


\ 



B 1776 

S5 
920 
opy 1 



rHE PRESENT STATUS OF 

RURAL TEACHERS IN 

THE SOUTH 



BY 
LAWRENCE ALEXANDER SHARP, Ph. D. 



GEORGE PEABODY COLLEGE FORTEACHERS 

CONTRIBUTIONS TO EDUCATION 

NUMBER TWO 



-<m^N 







PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF 

GEORGE PEABODY COLLEGE FOR TEACHERS 

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE 



^OT! O Tfl"pb 



Submitted in partial fulfillment of the 
requirements for the 

Degree of Doctor of Philosophy 

m the Graduate School of Education of 

George Peabody College for Teachers, 



\ 



THE PRESENT STATUS OF 

RURAL TEACHERS IN 

THE SOUTH 



BY 
LAWRENCE ALEXANDER SHARP, Ph. D. 



GEORGE PEABODY COLLEGE FOR TEACHERS 

CONTRIBUTIONS TO EDUCATION 

NUMBER TWO 



? 




PUBLISHED UNDER THE DIRECTION OF 

GEORGE PEABODY COLLEGE FOR TEACHERS 

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE 









n 



CONTENTS 

Introduction 

CHAPTER I 

The Present Status of Rural Teachers in the South 
in Regard to Tenure 
Introduction 

Experience of Rural Teachers 

1. As shown by data obtained from educational literature 

2. As shown by data obtained from personal interviews with six 

county superintendents 

3. As shown by data obtained from questionnaires sent to rural 

teachers 

The Number of Different Schools Taught by Rural Teachers 

The Effect of Educational Training of Teachers on Their Tenure in 
One Position 

1. In one- and two-teacher schools 

2. In schools employing more than two teachers 

Consecutive Years in Present Position 

1. As shown by data obtained from educational literature 

2. As shown by data obtained from personal interviews with six 

county superintendents 

3. As shown by data obtained from questionnaires sent to rural 

teachers 

4. Summary 

The Greatest Number of Consecutive Years Taught in Any One 
School 

Three Types of Changes Made by Rural Teachers 
Tenure of the Median Rural Teacher 
Conclusions 

CHAPTER II 
Why Teachers Leave the Rural Schools 
Reasons Given by Various Educators 

Reasons as Shown by Data Obtained from Six County Superintend- 
ents 

Reasons Given by Teachers Themselves 



CHAPTER III 
Why Teachers Change from One Rural School to Another 

Rural School 

Reasons Given by Six County Superintendents Why Rural Teachers 
Change Positions 

1. Why teachers in the one- and two-teacher schools change 

2. Why teachers in schools employing more than two teachers 

change 

3. An explanation of a graph 

4. Conclusions 

Reasons Given by Rural Teachers Why They Change Positions 

1. Why teachers in one- and two-teacher schools change 

2. Why teachers in schools employing more than two teachers 

change 

A Comparison of Data Obtained from Teachers of One- and Two- 
Teacher Schools with Data Obtained from Teachers of the 
Larger Schools 

A Comparative Study of the Reasons Checked Twice by the Teachers 
and the Principal Reasons given by the County Superintend- 
ents 

1. Teachers in one- and two-teacher schools 

2. Teachers in the larger schools 

3. Rural teachers as a whole 

A Comparative Study of the Reasons Given by Six County Superin- 
tendents Why 68 Rural Teachers Changed Positions the Last 
Time, and the Reasons Checked by These 68 Teachers 

Summary 

CHAPTER IV 

Conclusion 

The Evil Effects of Frequent Changes 

Some Suggestions Which May Tend to Reduce the Number of Changes 
Bibliography 



INTRODUCTION 
Purpose of the Study 

The aim of this study is to secure data in regard to the 
tenure of rural teachers, the reasons why they leave the 
rural schools, and the reasons why thev change -positions 
from one rural school to another rural school. It has been 
pointed out by a number of educators that the tenure of 
rural teachers is less than two years, and that those who do 
remain in the rural schools longer than two years are peri- 
patetics. Some of them have given the causes of the short 
tenure, and the reasons why those remaining in the profes- 
sion change positions every year, but these reasons seem to 
be based wholly on personal opinion. Data as a basis for 
their statements have not been presented. 

Chapter I is a presentation and discussion of data in re- 
gard to the tenure of rural teachers; chapter II attempts 
to answer the question why teachers leave the rural schools ; 
and chapter III is a discussion of the data presented, which 
tend to show why teachers change from one rural school 
to another rural school. The last chapter, chapter IV, is 
a brief discussion of the evil effects of the itinerancy of 
rural teachers, and some suggestions which may be helpful 
in reducing the amount of itinerancy among the rural teach- 
ers. 

Some Explanations 

In this study teachers mean rural teachers, 1 unless other- 
wise specified. Rural teachers, as the word rural is used 
in this study, are teachers whose administrative head is a 
county superintendent. A rural school, as used here, is a 
school under the administration of a county superintendent. 
It is not the purpose of this study to define rural teachers, 
or rural schools, in their strictest sense. If their adminis- 
trative head is a county superintendent, they are consid- 
ered rural. However, all teachers included in this study 
are classified on the basis of the size of the school in which 
they teach. Teachers of one- and two-teacher schools are 
put into one group, and teachers of schools employing more 
than two teachers are put into another group. This group- 
ing was made because it was felt that all teachers employed 
in one- and two-teacher schools are strictly rural, situated 
in somewhat isolated rural districts. On the other hand, 
there was some doubt as to whether the teachers in the 

1 Xo negro teachers are included in this study. 



6 The Present Status of 

larger schools could be classed as rural, using the term in 
its strictest sense. In other words, all data included in 
this study, unless otherwise specified, are in regard to teach- 
ers whose administrative head is a county superintendent, 
and they are classified on the basis of the size of the school 
in which they are teaching and not on a "hairsplitting" 
definition of rural teachers. 

How Data Were Collected 

The data presented in this study were obtained from 
three sources ; namely, educational literature, county super- 
intendents, and rural teachers. All educational literature 
that was easily available was consulted, and where data 
were found on the tenure of rural teachers, they were taken 
for use in this study. 

The data obtained from county superintendents were se- 
cured by visiting six county superintendents. The prob- 
lem and the general plan of investigation were presented 
to the Rural School Supervisors of Alabama, Arkansas, Mis- 
sissippi, Missouri, and Tennessee. They were each asked 
to name one or two county superintendents in their re- 
spective states who would be interested in this study and 
who would be willing to give information in regard to the 
tenure of their teachers. The supervisors suggested the 
names of Superintendent Butler, Madison County, Ala- 
bama; Superintendent Davis, Lonoke County, Arkansas; 
Superintendent Cathey, Tate County, Mississippi ; Superin- 
tendent McCroskey, Greene County, Missouri ; Superin- 
tendent Jobe, Montgomery County, Tennessee; and Miss 
Maude Norrid, supervisor of schools in Robertson County, 
Tennessee. These superintendents were visited on differ- 
ent dates between the fifth and twenty-fifth of April, 1919. 

Before going to a county, blanks were devised for the pur- 
pose of securing and recording the desired information 
given by the county superintendents, in the minimum time. 
On the following page is a copy of the blank used : 



Rural Teachers in the South 

Blank Used in Securing Data from the €ounty Superintendents 



Name of 
Teacher 


Address 


Consecutive 
years in pres- 
ent position 


Number of 
teachers in the 
school 


O 

C f) 

o 


Did he change 
of his own ac- 
cord? 


1 c^- 

ft.S 

T3 to 
Q O 


Reasons giv- 
en by county 
superintend- 
ent 





















































































The county superintendent was asked the following ques- 
tions in regard to every rural teacher who taught in his 
county during the school year of 1918-1919 : How many 
consecutive years has he taught in the school in which he 
is now teaching? How many teachers in the school? For 
what length of time is his contract? Did he change the 
last time of his own accord? Did the patrons like him 
where he taught before making his last change? Why did 
he change the last time? The answers to these questions 
were recorded in the blanks, but instead of recording the 
full reason why the teacher changed the last time, there 
was a list of reasons numbered from 1 to 32 lying on the 
table, and if the reason given by the county superintendent 
was one of the list, the number was recorded instead of the 
reason. The superintendent was permitted to give five rea- 
sons in regard to each teacher, but as a usual thing he gave 
only one. If more than one reason were given, the super- 
intendent was asked which one influenced the teacher most 
to change the last time, and a circle was drawn around the 
most important reason. In a great many cases the county 
superintendent couldn't answer the last three questions,' be- 
cause a number of the teachers had come from other coun- 
ties and were teaching their first year in that county, some 
were teaching their first year in any school and had not 
changed positions, and others had been in the same school 
during the superintendent's tenure in office. However, a 
complete record was obtained in regard to 309 of the 601 
teachers employed in the six counties visited. 

Data were obtained from rural teachers by means of 
questionnaires. The basis for selecting the teachers was 



8 The Present Status of 

as follows: It was decided to send questionnaires to every 
rural teacher in two counties in each of the sixteen South- 
ern States. A concise statement of the problem and the 
plan to be followed in regard to selecting the teachers was 
made to the Rural School Supervisors of all the Southern 
States, and each supervisor was asked to suggest two of his 
county superintendents who would furnish a complete mail- 
ing list of their teachers for this study. Lists were re- 
ceived from two county superintendents in each of eight 
states ; from the remaining eight states lists were received 
from only one county superintendent in each. Question- 
naires were sent to every teacher in at least one county in 
each of the Southern States, but in Georgia the list was not 
received in time to include the replies in the study. 

Questionnaires were sent to 3,226 rural teachers, and re- 
plies were received from 733 in time to be included in the 
study. Below is a copy of the questionnaire (see pages 8, 
9, 10, 11) sent to the teachers, also a copy of the letter writ- 
ten by Commissioner P. P. Claxton, which accompanied 
each questionnaire. A return envelope was enclosed with 
each questionnaire. 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, 

Bureau of Education. April 10, 1919. 

S 1 



Tenn. 
To the Teacher: 

The United States Bureau of Education has been asked 
many times to make a study of rural teachers and the con- 
ditions under which they do their work, with a view to of- 
fering some constructive suggestions which would be ben- 
eficial to teachers. I have asked Dr. F. B. Dresslar, of the 
Bureau's staff, now at Peabody College for Teachers, Nash- 
ville, Tenn., to make an investigation of this problem, and 
he will have a portion of the necessary field work done un- 
der his direction by Prof. Frost and Mr. Sharp, of the 
same institution. 

In order to yield valuable results it is necessary to secure 
accurate information from a considerable number of teach- 
ers from counties located in several different states. The 
county in which you are or have been teaching has been se- 
lected as one of the counties for this study. All the teach- 
ers are asked to fill out the answers to the questions as 
carefully and fully as possible. Please use the enclosed 



Rural Teachers in the South 9 

addressed envelope to return these papers at once ; no post- 
age stamp is required. 

Your name will not be used in any way in connection 
with this study. As soon as your papers are received 
your name will be detached and the papers will be known 
thereafter by number only. 

I feel sure that I can count on the hearty cooperation of 
all those teachers who are asked to assist in making this 
study a success. Very truly yours, 

P. P. Claxton, 
Commissioner. 

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Washington, 

Bureau of Education. April 10, 1919. 

S 2 



Tenn. 



Investigation of Rural Teaching Conditions 
Name of teacher 



(To be detached here.) 

1. Man or woman? 

2. County in which you are teaching? 

State? 

2. How many months did you attend high school? 

4. How many months did you attend a normal school? 



5. How many months did you attend college? 

6. How many years have you taught? 

7. How many different schools have you taught ? 

8. How many consecutive years have you taught in the 

school in which you are now teaching? 

9. What is the greatest number of consecutive years you 

have ever taught in any one school? 

10. How many teachers are there in your school? 

11. How many teachers were there in the school in which 

you taught before going to the school in which you 
are now teaching? 

12. What is the length of your contract? 



10 



The Present Status of 



DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, 
Bureau of Education. 



S 



Tenn. 



Washington, 
April 10, 1919. 



Investigation of Rural Teaching Conditions (Concluded) 
Name of teacher 



(To be detached here.) 



Of the reasons listed below, please check (X) the five 
that influenced you most to change teaching positions the 
last time. Check twice (XX) the one of these five that in- 
fluenced you most. 



Note. — Do not check more than five, 
items before checking any. 



Please read all 



1. Difficult to get to school. 

2. Nothing to do during Saturday and Sunday. 

3. Too few agreeable companions. 

4. Community gossip. 

5. Factions in the school district. 

6. Patrons took no interest in the school. 

7. The children were hard to discipline. 

8. The children were slow in learning. 

9. Too many classes to teach. 

10. Work was too hard. 

11. To get into a graded school. 

12. To get into a larger school. 

13. Irregular attendance. 

14. Term was too short. 

15. Better salary. 

16. Boarding place was unsatisfactory. 

17. Had no place to entertain my friends. 

18. Boarding place was too far from school. 

19. Too much exposure. 

20. Had to do my own janitor work. 

21. Community health conditions undesirable. 

22. Principal wasn't agreeable. 

23. Poor school building. 

24. Poor equipment for the school. 

25. Poor playgrounds. 

26. Little chance for self-improvement. 

27. So I could attend a church of my own denomi- 

nation. 



( 
( 


) 28. 
) 29. 


( 
( 
( 


) 30. 
) 31. 
) 32. 



Rural Teachers in the South 11 

To be closer home. 

Don't think a teacher should stay too long in 
one place. 

Difficult to get laundrying done. 

To get a longer contract. 

Had planned to quit teaching, and when I de- 
cided to teach again, my old school was 
taken. 
( ) 33. Any reason not mentioned. Make this one of 
the five, if checked. 

While devising the questionnaire, this question arose : 
Will the majority of the teachers check five reasons by the 
time they have read the first fifteen, and the results be viti- 
ated due to the fact that all of the reasons were not con- 
sidered? In other words, would not the position of the 
reason have more to do with its being checked than the rea- 
son itself? To answer this question, copies of the second 
page of the questionnaire, S 3, were handed to twenty-five 
students in Peabody College for Teachers; these students 
had all taught before coming to Peabody and therefore 
were considered teachers. No instructions were given 
them more than are given at the top of the page. Eighteen 
of the twenty-five checked the reasons. Some checked five, 
others checked only one. The following graph shows the 
results. It is realized that the number of cases used were 
too few to answer the question, but the results seem to in- 
dicate that the position of a reason would have nothing to 
do with the number of times it would be checked. 



12 



The Present Status of 



Per Cent of Times Each Reason Was Checked by the Eighteen Teachers 

(once or twice) 



5 



Reasons ' a * 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 u a is !♦ s » n » n urn u ai* e :6 27 is Z9 so 31 32 35 



Fig. 1 



Rural Teachers in the South 



13 



The questionnaires were sent, and the following graph 
shows the distribution of reasons as they were checked. 
It seems from the table that a reason was not checked on 
account of its position in the questionnaire, but that the 
teacher searched until he found the real reason and then 
checked it. The five reasons that were checked by the 
greatest number of teachers are, in order of position in the 
questionnaire, 6, 9, 15, 26, and 28. 



Per Cent of Times Each Reason Was Checked (once or twice) 



Reasons i 2 3 4 s'6 7 e 9 w n iz s 14 15 « 17 ura 20 z\ 22. 23 m 25 26 27 is> 29 30 11 32 33 

Fig. 2 



CHAPTER I 

the present status of rural teachers in the 
south in regard to tenure 

Introduction 

Any discussion of the status of rural teachers in the 
South as a whole is more or less incomplete and fragmen- 
tary. The data necessary for a thorough analysis and an 
exact presentation of actual conditions are not available; 
they do not exist. Only four or five states have made sur- 
veys of their rural teachers, and those that have made sur- 
veys have not obtained all the data that bear on the status 
of rural teachers. Some states have collected facts re- 
garding certain things and other states facts on entirely 
different items. This fragmentary mass of data will make 
it more or less impossible to make comparisons that are 
sound. There have been a number of county surveys 
made which present more fully the true conditions of rural 
teachers than do the state surveys. But none of the county 
surveys has covered all the items to be presented in this 
chapter. Taking all the data obtainable from any and 
every source, State Superintendents' Reports, County Su- 
perintendents' Reports, State School Surveys, County 
School Surveys, County Rural Surveys, Bulletins published 
by the United States Bureau of Education, and from ques- 
tionnaires sent to 3,226 rural teachers in the sixteen South- 
ern States, there are probably enough data obtainable to 
be indicative of the actual status of rural teachers in the 
South in regard to tenure. 

The data that will be presented in this chapter have been 
collected from the sources just mentioned. Some of these 
data were collected as early as 1910 ; others were not avail- 
able before 1919. All data found that had any bearing on 
the subjects to be discussed were taken, provided they were 
collected in 1910 or later. All data collected within this pe- 
riod of eight years have been treated as though they were 
collected the same year. 

No discussion of an individual county will be made, but 
where the data were taken from a county survey they will 
be treated as indicative of conditions prevailing in the state. 
Of course if a county were known to be far below the av- 
erage county in the state, it would not be fair to the state 
to be represented by such a county. But such is not likely 
to be the case. It is not the backward county that is being 
surveyed; it is the county that is progressing and forging 



Rural Teachers in the South 15 

ahead. A state is more likely to be overrated than under- 
rated by data taken from a county survey. However, it 
is not the intention of this discussion to justify the data 
presented, but rather to draw a few conclusions that seem 
evident. 

On a number of topics there were data given in the State 
Superintendents' Reports, but these data as a general rule 
include city, village, and rural teachers without differen- 
tiation ; therefore the data could not be used. Very few 
state superintendents make separate reports for the various 
classes of teachers, or even present data so that a distinc- 
tion can be made. This is one reason why data are so dif- 
ficult to obtain. Another reason is that no two state super- 
intendents include data on the same items, or if they do, it is 
in different forms and one must be translated into terms 
of the other before a comparative study can be made. For 
instance, one will present data on the qualification of teach- 
ers in terms of years of school attendance, another in terms 
of the number of summer schools attended, and still an- 
other in terms of the grade of certificate held. It is evi- 
dent from such data that no intelligible comparison could 
be made. A comparison would be feasible in terms of 
years of school attendance, provided the word "year" is de- 
fined. No one can tell anything about a teacher's qualifi- 
cations from the certificate he holds. If he has obtained it 
by passing an examination, there is no basis on which to 
draw conclusions. If it happens to be a professional cer- 
tificate, one may be able to look up the state law regarding 
the certification of teachers and make an intelligent guess. 
Thus, because of the inconsistency in the use of terms, all 
doubtful data were excluded. 

This discussion will deal with tenure as to years' expe- 
rience, number of different schools taught, consecutive 
years in present position, greatest number of consecutive 
years taught in any one school, and the three types of 
changes made by rural teachers. 

Experience of Rural Teachers 

1. As shown by data obtained from educational literature. 
The data used in this discussion were obtained from Edu- 
cational Surveys and State Superintendents' Reports. Data 
on the experience of rural teachers were found in no other 
educational literature, and were found here for only six 
Southern States. These data presented in the following 
table show that 15.2 per cent of the rural teachers in five 
states (North Carolina is excluded) have taught only one 
year. They further show that 45.4 per cent of the rural 



16 



The Present Status of 



teachers have taught five years or longer. The following 
interpretation may be made: 15.2 per cent of the rural 
teachers quit each year, and only 45.4 per cent teach as long 
as five years. In other words, the table shows that the 
median rural teacher teaches four years and quits. 



TABLE 1. — Some Rural Teachers in the South, Classified on the Basis of 

Experience 



States 



Total number 
of teachers 
considered 



The number of teachers who have taught 



lyr. 



2 yrs. 



3 yrs. 



4 yrs. 



5 yrs. 
or more 



Alabama (1) 

Kentucky (2)... 

Louisiana (2) 

Missouri (2) 

N. Carolina (2). 
W. Virginia (2). 



160 

9354 

5942 

20208 

12015 

10335 



35 

1676 

927 

2934 



1414 



25 
1470 



2590 



807 
2362 



643 
1913 



2679 

10409 

4031 

4902 



Per Cent (3). 



15.2 



14.0 



12.1 



9.8 



45.4 



1 An Educational Survey of Three Counties in Alabama, page 81. 

a State Superintendent's Report (1916, 1914, 1915, 1915, and 1916, respectively. 

3 These per cents will not add to 100 due to the bases used. If a state has no 
representation in a column, it is excluded in figuring the per cent. For instance, 
North Carolina does not figure in finding the per cent in the first column with 
one year's experience. Instead of 58,014 as a base, 58,014-12,015, or 45,999 was 
used. In the second and fifth columns four states were considered, and in the 
third and fourth columns only two states were considered. 



The following table gives the per cent in each group of 
experiences by states. It will be observed that the median 
per cent, for the five states, with one year's experience is 
15.2 ; and the median per cent with five years's experience, 
or more, is 46.8. 



TABLE 2. — Some Bural Teachers in the South, Classified on the Basis of 
Experience, Expressed in Per Cents 1 



State 


Total number 
of teachers 
considered 


The per cent of teachers who have taught 


lyr. 


2 yrs. 


3 yrs. 


4 yrs. 


5 yrs. 
or more 


Alabama 


160 

9354 

5942 

20208 

12015 

10335 


22.0 
17.9 
15.6 
14.5 


16 

15.7 
15.0 
12.8 








Kentucky.. ..- 








Louisiana 


13.5 
11.7 


10.8 
9.8 


45 1 


Missouri 


51 2 


N. Carolina.. 


33.6 


W.Virginia 


12.7 








48.5 












Median 




15.6 


15.35 


12.6 


10.3 


46 8 









1 Obtained from Educational Literature (see page 16). 



Rural Teachers in the South 



17 



These medians are practically the same as the per cents 
derived in the preceding table, and like the preceding table 
show that the median rural teacher quits after teaching 
four years. 

TABLE 3. — Some Rural Teachers in Other States, Classified) on the Basis of 
Experience, Expressed in Per Cents 



State 



Per cent of teachers who have taught 


lyr. 


2 yrs. 


3 yrs. 


4 yrs. 


5 yrs. or more 




24.0 
15.4 
29.2 
31.2 
54.4 


59.0 
8.4 
11.2 
23.5 
21.9 


8.0 


9.0 


40.0 


Iowa (2) 




Ohio (3) 


12.4 
17.4 
16.3 


8.0 
9.6 
2.4 


39.3 


South Dakota (4) 
Wyoming (5) 


18.3 
3.0 


Median..., 


29.2 


19.0 


14.35 


8.5 


28.8 



1 A Rural Survey of Tulane County, California. 

2 State Superintendent's Report, 1913. 

3 Rural Life Survey of Greene and Clemont Counties, Ohio, 1914. 

4 The Educational System of South Dakota, Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1918, 
number 31, page 211. 

5 Educational Survey of Wyoming by A. C. Monahan and Katherine M. Cook, 
Bulletin 1916, number 29, page 81. 



2. As shown by data obtained from personal interviews 
with six county superintendents. These data were obtained 
from six county superintendents visited during April, 1919. 
The superintendents could not give complete data for any 
group of teachers except those who had taught only one 
year. So the following table will try to show nothing more 
than the per cent of rural teachers who have had only one 
year's experience. It will be seen in the table that the per 
cent of teachers with only one year's experience varies from 
15.8 per cent in Alabama to 22.5 per cent in Tennessee. The 
median for the five states is 19.4 per cent. 



The data composing the above tables on experience were taken from the fol- 
lowing sources: 

Alabama — An Educational Survey of Three Counties in Alabama, page 81. 
Kentucky — State Superintendent's Report, 1916. 
Louisiana — State Superintendent's Report, 1914. 
Missouri — State Superintendent's Report, 1915. 
West Virginia — State Superintendent's Report, 1916. 
California — A Rural Survey of Tulane County, California (made by country 

church work of the Board of Home Missions and the Presbyterian Church 

in the United States — W. H. Wilson and H. N. Morse, 156 Fifth Avenue, New 

York City). 
Ohio — A Rural Life Survey of Greene and Clemont Counties, Ohio, by the same 

church. 
Iowa — State Superintendent's Report, 1913. 
Wyoming — Educational Survey of Wyoming, by A. C. Monahan and Katherine 

Cook; Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1916, No. 29, page 211. 



18 The Present Status of 

TABLE 4. — Rural Teachers of One Year's Experience; Six Counties 1 



A County in 


Total Numbei of 
Teachers 


Teachers with 1 yr.'s 
Experience 


Per cent with 1 yr.'s 
Experience 


Alabama.- . - - 

Arkansas . . , .. 


120 

61 

78 

160 

195 


19 
10 
17 
31 
44 


15.8 
16.7 


Mississippi 


21.8 




19.4 


Tennessee (2).. 


22.5 






Total... . ... 


614 


121 


19.7 












19.4 











1 These data were obtained by a personal interview with six county superin- 
tendents in the above-named states. 

2 Two county superintendents were visited in Tennessee. 

3. As shown by data obtained from questionnaires sent 
to rural teachers. These data have been classified into two 
groups. One group considers teachers who were teaching 
in one- and two-teacher schools, and the other group con- 
siders teachers who were teaching in schools with more 
than two teachers. 

TABEE 5. — Some Teachers in One- and Two-Teacher Schools, Classified on the 

Basis of Experience 1 



State 


Total number 
of teachers 
considered 


The number of teachers who have taught 




lyr. 


2 yrs. 


3 yrs. 


4 yrs. 


5 yrs. 
or more 


Alabama 


33 
63 

3 

5 
28 
47 

9 
36 
34 

5 
32 
32 
18 
40 
17 


3 
4 
1 
1 
3 
11 
1 
8 
5 


6 

7 


3 

7 


2 
5 


19 


Arkansas.. 


40 


Florida 


2 


Kentucky. _ 


1 
3 

7 
1 
7 
2 


1 
4 




2 


Louisiana.. .... . 

Maryland .... 


1 

2 


17 
27 


Mississippi. .. 


1 


6 


Missouri __ 


2 
8 


19 


North Carolina . 


5 


14 


Oklahoma .. 


5 


South Carolina 


10 

7 
6 

14 
3 


5 
6 
4 
6 
1 


3 
2 
2 
5 
4 


5 
4 
2 
4 

1 


9 


Tennessee 


13 


Texas . . . . 


4 


Virginia 


11 


West Virginia ... 


8 


Total 


402 


77 


56 


37 


36 


196 






Per Cent . ... 




19.1 


13.9 


9.2 


9.0 


49.0 









1 Obtained from Questionnaires. 

In one- and two-teacher schools 19.1 per cent of the teach- 
ers have taught one year only, and 49 per cent have taught 
five years or longer. In schools with more than two teach- 
ers, 13 per cent have taught one year only, and 60.3 per 
cent have taught five years or longer. 



Rural Teachers in the South 



19 



TABLE 6. — Some Rural Teachers in Schools Employing More Than Two Teachers, 
Classified on the Basis of Experience 1 



States 


Total number 
of teachers 
considered 


The number of teachers who have taught 


lyr. 


2 yrs. 


3 yrs. 


4 yrs. 


5 yrs. 
or more 


Alabama 


34 
25 
7 
2 
39 
23 
15 
10 
18 
13 
41 
11 
31 
54 
7 


2 
2 


2 
1 


2 
2 




28 




1 


19 


Florida... 


7 


Kentucky.. _ 






1 
3 
1 
2 




1 




7 
1 
1 
1 
1 
4 
8 
2 
2 
11 
1 


9 

2 


2 
1 
1 


18 


Maryland 


18 


Mississippi 


11 


Missouri 


1 

4 


8 


North Carolina.. 


1 




12 


Oklahoma . 


1 
4 


8 


South Carolina 


9 

4 
4 
6 
1 


5 


15 


Tennessee ._ 


5 


Texas 

Virginia.. .. 

West Virginia .. 


4 
5 
1 


3 

5 


18 

27 
4 








Total 


330 


43 


43 


27 


18 


199 






Per Cent 




13.0 


13.0 


8.3 


5.4 


60.3 









1 Obtained from Questionnaires. 

Taking the two groups as a whole, 16.4 per cent have 
taught one year only, and 54 per cent have taught five years 
or longer. It is observed that the teachers who were teach- 
ing in the larger schools have had more experience than 
those teaching in the smaller schools. This may be ex- 
plained in two ways. First, the rural teachers begin teach- 
ing in the small schools and go from them to larger schools ; 
second, the teachers who teach in the smaller schools go out 
of the teaching profession more quickly than do those who 
teach in the larger schools. Both conclusions may tend to 
indicate that the tenure of rural teachers may be increased 
by consolidation. 

These data show that the median rural teacher in the 
one- and two-teacher schools teach only four years, as was 
shown by preceding data, but that the median teacher in 
the larger schools teaches five years before he quits. 

Summary 

A bird's-eye view of the preceding discussions can best 
be presented in a summary table which will show the per 
cents of each table that fall in each group of experiences. 
This summary table tends to show that there is no wide 
variation in either group. It also tends to show that the 
results presented by either table might be accepted and the 
error would be slight. 



20 



The Present Status of 



TABLE 7. — Summary Table Showing- the Per Cents that Fall in Each Group of 
Experience as Shown by the Preceding Tables 



Experience. 


Per cents 

shown in (i) 

table 1 


The median 
per cents 
shown in 
table 2 


Pel cents 

shown in (2) 

table 5 


Per cents 

shown in 

table 6 


The median 

per cents 

shown in (3) 

table 4 


lyr 

2 yrs. _- 


15.2 
14.0 
12.1 
9.8 
45.4 


15.6 

15.35 

12.6 

10.3 

46.8 


19.1 

13.9 

9.2 

9.0 

49.0 


13.0 

13.0 

8.2 

5.4 
60.3 


19.4 


3 yrs . 




4 yrs.. . 




5 yrs. or moie 







1 Obtained from Educational Literature. 

2 Obtained from Questionnaires. 

3 Obtained from. County Superintendents. 

Probably the most representative figures are the medians 
obtained from the summary table. These medians tend to 
show that 15.6 per cent of the rural teachers quit teaching 
in the rural schools each year, that only 47.9 per cent teach 
five years, and that the median rural teacher quits at the 
end of his fourth year. 

Medians Obtained from the Summary Table 

Years' Experience Median Per Cents 

1 15.60 

2 14.95 

3 10.65 

4 9.40 

5 or more 47.90 

The Number of Different Schools Taught by 
Rural Teachers 

Nothing was found in educational literature relative to 
this topic. The county superintendents could not give 
complete data on the subject in regard to all of the teach- 
ers in their counties ; therefore the basis of this discussion 
will be the data obtained from questionnaires sent to the 
rural teachers. Replies on this subject were received from 
721 teachers, 393 of whom were teaching in one- and two- 
teacher schools, and 328 in larger schools. These data are 
organized on the basis of one- and two-teacher schools and 
schools that employ more than two teachers. 



Rural Teachers in the South 



21 



TABLE 8. — Teachers of One- and Two-Teacher Schools, According to the 
Number of Schools Taught 1 



State 


Total number 
of teachers 
considered 


One 
School 


Two 
Schools 


Three 
Schools 


Four 
Schools 


Five or 

more 
Schools 


Alabama - - 


33 
63 

3 

5 
27 
46 

9 
31 
34 

4 
32 
32 
18 
39 
17 


4 
9 
1 
2 
3 
18 
1 
8 
9 


6 
6 


7 
10 


4 
8 
1 
1 

7 
4 

1 

3 
3 


12 


Arkansas - 


30 


Florida- 


1 




1 
4 
9 
2 
9 
6 




1 


Louisiana . . 


5 

7 
1 
4 

7 

3 
6 
1 
5 
3 


8 


Maryland 


8 


Mississippi . . 


4 


Missouri .. .. 


7. 


North Carolina.- - . 


9 




3 


South Carolina. . 


10 
7 

10 

17 

3 


9 

10 
3 
9 

2 


7 
3 
1 
2 
2 


3 


Tennessee - . 

Texas 


6 
3 


Virginia .. _ 

West Virginia . 


6 

7 


Total 


393 


102 


76 


60 


47 


105 


Per Cent.. . 




25.9 


19.3 


15.3 


11.9 


26.7 









1 Obtained from Questionnaires. 

Data show that 25.9 per cent of the teachers who were 
teaching in the one- and two-teacher schools have taught 
in only one school; 19.3 per cent have taught in two differ- 
ent schools; 15.3 per cent have taught in three different 
schools; 11.9 per cent have taught in four different schools; 
and 26.7 per cent have taught in five or more different 
schools. The median teacher in this group has taught only 
four years ; during these four years he has taught in three 
different schools. 



TABLE 9. — Teachers of Rural Schools Employing More Than Two Teachers, 
According to the Number of Schools Taught 1 



State 


Total number 
of teachers 
considered 


One 
School 


Two 
Schools 


Three 
Schools 


Four 
Schools 


5 or 

more 

Schools 


Alabama.. . 


33 
25 
7 
2 
38 
23 
15 
10 
19 
13 
40 
11 
31 
54 
7 


3 
2 


•5 
5 


5 
1 
1 
1 
5 
6 
3 


4 
4 

1 


16 


Arkansas. _•_ .. 


13 


Florida... ... _ 


5 


Kentucky . . 






1 


Louisiana 


12 
6 
2 
4 
2 
3 

13 
1 
4 

15 
1 


5 
6 


5 
3 
3 
1 
5 
1 
3 
1 
5 
4 
1 


11 


Maryland . _. . 


2 


Mississippi .. 


7 


Missouri. 


1 
5 
1 

11 
5 
9 

13 
1 


4 


North Carolina.. 




7 


Oklahoma 


3 
8 
2 
3 
10 
2 


5 


South Carolina 


5 


Tennessee .. 


2 


Texas 


10 


Virginia . 


12 


West Virginia... . 


2 


Total 


328 


68 


67 


50 


41 


102 






Per Cent .. 




-. 20.7 


20.4 


15.2 


12.5 


31.1 











1 Obtained from Questionnaires. 



22 



The Present Status of 



The record for teachers in the larger schools is not so 
bad, although they have taught longer. In this group 20.7 
per cent have taught in only one school ; 20.4 per cent have 
taught in two different schools ; 15.2 per cent have taught 
in three different schools ; 12.5 per cent have taught in four 
different schools; and 31.1 per cent have taught in five or 
more different schools. 

Here again the median is three different schools. But 
the median teacher in this group has taught five years or 
more. Thus the median teacher in this group has taught 
in three different schools within five or more years. This 
tends to show that teachers not only teach longer in the 
larger schools, but remain in one position longer. 

These data organized on the basis of teachers' experience 
tend to show that the median rural teacher changes posi- 
tions at the end of his first year's experience; that he re- 
mains in his second school two years ; and that he changes 
positions every two years thereafter. 



TABLE 10. — Teachers of One- and Two-Teacher Schools, According to 
Experience and the Number of Schools Taught 



Years' 


Total num- 
ber of 

teachers 


The number of different schools taught 


Experience 


1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 or 
more 


10 or more 

9- 


85 
9 

20 
26 
20 
24 
35 
39 
57 
78 


2 


2 


3 

2 

3 

8 

6 

10 

12 

16 


9 
1 
4 
6 
4 
8 
15 


6 
3 
3 

4 
4 


6 
2 
5 

4 
5 


10 


5(1) 


12 
1 


30 


8 






3 

3 


2 




7 


1 

5 
16 

78 


1 
1 
6 
7 
18 
41 






6 








5 










4 














3 














2 
















1 







































Total, 393. 

1 The median is in the group in heavy type. 



In table 10 it will be observed that the median teacher 
with 9 years' experience has taught in five different schools 
and that the median teacher with 10 years' experience or 
more has taught in eight different schools. This jump 
from five to eight is probably due to the fact that in the 
group of "10 or more" are included a large number of teach- 
ers who have taught much longer than ten years. 



Rural Teachers in the South 



23 



TABLE 11 


. — Teachers of Rural Schools Employing More Than Two Teachers, 
According to Experience and Number of Schools Taught 


Years' 


Total num- 
ber of 
teachers 


The number of different schools taught 


Experience 


1 


2 


3 


4 


5 


6 


7 


8 


9 


10 or 
more 


10 or more 

9. - 

8 


111 
16 
14 

15 
19 
21 
17 
27 
47 
41 


1 
1 

2 
3 
2 
2 
16 
41 


5 
1 

- 1 
4 
7 
5 

13 
31 


16 
3 
1 
2 
3 
6 
7 

12 


11 
4 
4 
8 
7 
4 
3 


18 
6 
5 

2 
2 
1 


12(1) 

1 

1 


12 
1 
1 


9 
2 


9 
1 


19 


7... 






6 










5 










4 












3 














2 
















1 






































Total ... ... 


328 































1 The median is in the group in heavy type. 

The Effect of Educational Training of Teachers 
on Their Tenure in One Position 

In one- and two-teacher schools: The median teacher 
with less than 18 months' high school training has taught 
five years or more. During this time he has taught in 
three different schools. The median teacher who has had 
18 months' high school training or more, but is not a high 
school graduate, has taught five years or more. During 

TABLE 12.— Teachers in One- and Two- Teacher Schools, According to Training 
and Experience, Expressed in Per Cents 



Training 



Total 
Teachers 



Per cent of 
teachers who have taught 



lyr. 



2yrs. 



3 yrs. 



4 yrs. 



5 yrs. 

or 
more 



Less than 18 months' high school training 

18 months' high school training but not high school 

graduate 

High school graduate, but less than 9 months' college 

training 

9 months' college training or more 



100 
116 



105 
76 



17 


7.0 


8.0 


8.0 


13.0 


12.1 


6.0 


13.0 


27.6 
21.1 


22.0 
14.5 


9.5 
17.4 


4.8 
10.5 



60.0 
56.0 



36.2 
36.8 



this time he has taught in four different schools. The me- 
dian teacher who is a high school graduate, but has had 
less than 9 months' college training, has taught three years. 
During the three years he has taught in two different 
schools. The median teacher with 9 months' college train- 
ing or more has taught three years. During the three 
years he has taught in three different schools. In other 
words, he has taught in a different school each year. 



24 



The Present Status of 



TABLE 13. — Teachers in One- and Two- Teacher Schools, Classified on the Basis 

of Training and the Number of Different Schools Taught, 

Expressed in Per Cents 





Total 
number of 
teachers 


Pei cent of teachers who have taught in 


Training 


One 

School 


Two Three 
Schools Schools 


Four 
Schools 


Five or 
more 
Sehools 


Less than 18 months' high school training- - 
18 months' high school training, but not a 


100 

114 

104 
73 


25.0 

20.2 

35.4 
26.0 


14.0 

15.8 

25.0 
23.3 


13.0 

14.0 

14.4 
22.0 


8.0 

16.7 

8.6 
12.3 


40.0 
33.3 


A high school graduate, but less than 9 


16.4 




17.4 







In schools employing more than two teachers: The me- 
dian teacher with less than 18 months' high school training 
has taught eight years or more. During this time he has 
taught in five different schools. The median teacher with 
18 months' high school training, but who is not a college 
graduate, has taught eight years or more. During this 
time he has taught in five different schools. The median 
teacher who is a high school graduate, but who has had less 
than 9 months' college training, has taught eight years or 
more. During this time he has taught in three different 
schools. 



TABLE 14. — Rural Teachers in Schools Employing More Than Two Teachers, 
Classified on the Basis of Training and Experience, Expressed in Per Cents 



Training 


Total 

number of 

teachers 

considered 


Pei cent of teachers who have taught 


lyr. 


2yrs. 


3 yrs. 


4 yrs. 


5 yis. 


6 yrs. 


7 yrs. 


8yis. 

or 
more 


Less than 18 months' high 


24 

62 

65 
176 


6.4 

17.0 
13.6 


12.5 

8.1 

12.3 
17.0 


8.3 

8.1 

6.1 
9.1 


9.7 

1.5 
6.2 


4.1 

6.4 

4.6 
6.8 


4.1 

6.4 

4.6 
6.3 


4.1 

1.6 

1.6 
6.8 


62.5 


18 months' high school training 
but not a high school grad- 
uate -• 

High school graduate but less 
than 9 months' college 
training 


53.2 
52.3 


9 months' college training or 
more.- 


34.1 



The median teacher with 9 months' college training or 
more has taught five years. During the five years he has 
taught in three different schools. 



Rural Teachers in the South 



25 



TABLE 15. — Rural Teachers in Schools Employing More Than Two Teachers, 

Classified on the Basis of Training and the Number of Schools 

Taught, Expressed in Per Cents 



Tiaining 



Total 
number of 




Per cent of teachers who have taught ii 
















teachers 


t 


m 


en 


to 


to 


in 


en 


considered 


o 

4) ° 


C* 


Pn 


b" 


v 8 


o 
o 


£ § 




c-p 


S u 


•c-P, 


§•?, 


Z-* 


XJ3 


V-* 




o£ 


^m 




*£ 


fe£ 


ai«8 


K>W 



Www 



Less than 18 months' high 
school training . 

18 months' high school training 
but not a high school grad 
uate 

A high school graduate but less 
than 9 months' college 
training 

9 months' college training or 
more 



24 


4.1 


16.7 


12.5 


16.7 


12.5 


4.1 


16.6 


62 


9.7 


14.5 


20.9 


4.9 


14.5 


6.4 


9.7 


65 


24.6 


18.5 


20.0 


9.2 


10.8 


1.5 


1.5 


177 


25.4 


22.0 


13.0 


16.3 


8.4 


4.5 


2.2 



16.6 

19.3 

14.0 
7.9 



These data tend to show: First, that the better trained 
teachers are the younger teachers ; second, that the poorly- 
trained experienced teachers stay longer in one position 
than the better trained inexperienced teachers. 

Consecutive Years in Present Position 

1. As shown by data obtained from educational literature. 
Data were obtained for five Southern States. These data 
show that 63.2 per cent of the rural teachers are teaching 
their first year in their present position; 20.6 per cent are 
teaching their second year; 8.2 per cent are teaching their 
third year; 3.1 per cent are teaching their fourth year; and 
only 2.7 per cent are teachnig their fifth or more consecu- 
tive year in their present position. 

TABLE 16. — Rural Teachers, According to Consecutive Years' Experience 

in Present Position 1 



State 


Total 

number of 

teachers 

considered 


The number of teachers who have 
their present position 


been in 




lyr. 


2 yrs. 


3 yrs. 


4 yrs. 


5 yrs. or 
longer 


Louisiana . ...... 

Missouri .. 

Oklahoma . ... 

South Carolina 

Tennessee ... .. 


4844 
9883 
7923 
2023 
93 


2648 
6804 
4859 
1270 
67 


1006 

2071 

1492 

513 

14 


489 
860 
541 
142 

7 


239 
180 
304 

48 
3 


462 
149 

50 

2 


Total 


24776 


15648 


5096 


2039 


774 


663 


Percent.. . . . .. .. . 




63.2 


20.6 


8.2 


3.1 


2.7 









1 Obtained from Educational Literature (see footnote, page 26). 



26 



The Present Status of 



It is further observed that about 84 teachers out of every 
100 change positions every two years, and 63 out of every 
100 change every year. Less than 16 teachers in every 100 
have been in their present positions longer than two years. 

The data in the preceding table were converted into per 
cents and presented in another table. In this table the 
median per cent for each group of consecutive years is 
found and presented at the bottom of the table. The me- 
dian per cent who have been in their present position only 
one year is 63 ; the median per cent who have been in their 



TABLE 17.- 



-Rural Teachers, According to Consecutive Years' Experience in 
Present Position, Expressed in Per Cents 1 



State 



Total 

number ot 

teachers 

considered 



The per cent of rural teachers who have taught in 
their present position 



lyr. 



2 yrs. 



3 yrs. 



4 yrs. 



5 yrs. 
or more 



Louisiana 

Missouri 

Oklahoma 

South Carolina. 
Tennessee 



4844 
9883 
7923 
2023 
93 



54.7 


20.7 


10.0 


5.0 


68.8 


21.0 


6.9 


1.8 


61.4 


18.8 


6.8 


4.3 


63.0 


25.0 


7.0 


2 3 


72.0 


15.1 


7.5 


3.2 


63.0 


20.7 


7.0 


3.2 



9.6 
1.5 
8.7 
2.4 
2.1 



Median. 



2.4 



1 Obtained from Educational Literature (see footnote below). 

present position two years is 20.7; the median per cent who 
have been in their present position three years is 7; the 
median per cent who have been in their present position 
four years is 3.2 ; and the median per cent who have been in 
their present position five years or longer is only 2.4. It 
will be observed that these medians do not vary widely from 
the per cents found in the preceding table, 



2. As shown by data obtained from personal interviews 
with six county superintendents. From these six county 
superintendents data were obtained relative to the consec- 
utive years in their present position for 601 rural teachers. 
These data were obtained by asking the county superin- 
tendent how many consecutive years each teacher had 
taught in the school he was then teaching, or had taught in 

2 The data composing the tables on consecutive years in present position were 

obtained from the following' sources: 

Alabama — An Educational Survey of Three Counties in Alabama, 

Louisiana — State Superintendent's Report, 1916. 

Missouri — The Status of Rural Education in the United States, by A. C. Monahan, 
Bulletin, 1913, number 8, page 38. 

Oklahoma — A Guide to Better Schools, Duke, pages 51, 52. 

South Carolina — The Status of Rural Education in the United States, A. C. Mon- 
ahan, Bulletin, 1913, number 8, page 37. 

Tennessee — A Personal Survey of Montgomery County, Tennessee, 1919. 



Rural Teachers in the South 



27 



1918-1919. The superintendent gave the number of years 
for each teacher individually. These are the most complete 
data that will be presented on this subject, for every teacher 
in these six counties was considered. In other words, it is 
the same as 100 per cent replies. Therefore they should 
be more reliable than the data obtained from either the 
educational literature or the questionnaires sent to rural 
teachers. These data have been put into two groups. One 
group includes data relating to teachers who were teaching 
in one- and two-teacher schools, and the other group in- 
cludes data relating to teachers who taught in schools that 
employed more than two teachers. In the one- and two- 
teacher schools 71.8 per cent of the teachers were teaching 

TABLE 18. — Teachers of One- and Two- Teacher Schools, According to 
Consecutive Years' Experience in Present Position 1 



State 


Total 

number of 

teachers 

considered 


The number of teachers who have taught in thei r 
present position 




lyr. 


2yrs. 


3 yrs. 


4 yrs. 


5 yrs. 
or more 


Alabama . 


51 

44 

30 

103 

131 


42 
28 
23 
67 
98 


6 
9 

7 
23 
24 


2 
6 




1 


Arkansas. . 




1 


Mississippi 








7 
6 


3 
2 


3 




1 






Total -. . 


359 


258 


69 


21 


5 


6 










71.8 


19.2 


5.8 


1.3 


1.7 









1 Data obtained from six county superintendents. 



their first year in their present position ; 19.2 per cent were 
teaching their second year in their present position; 5.8 
per cent were teaching their third year in their present 
position; and only 3 per cent had been in their present po- 
sition four years or longer. It is observed that 91 per cent 
had been in their present position less than two years. 
In the larger schools conditions are not so bad, but they are 
bad enough. In these schools 62.2 per cent of the teachers 
were teaching their first year in their present position; 
17.8 per cent were teaching their second year in their pres- 
ent position ; 8.7 per cent were teaching their third year in 
their present position ; 5 per cent were teaching their fourth 
year in their present position ; and 5.4 per cent were teach- 
ing their fifth year or more. 



28 



The Present Status of 



TABLE 19. — Teachers of Rural Schools Employing More Than Two Teachers, 
According to Consecutive Years' Experience in Present Position 1 



State 


Total 

number of 

teachers 

considered 


The number of teachers who have beer 
present position 


i in their 




lyr. 


2 yrs. 


3 yrs. 


4 yrs. 


5 yrs. 
or more 




70 
16 
47 
45 
64 


44 
9 
31 
22 
47 


12 
4 
5 

12 
10 


3 
2 
8 
4 
4 


2 
1 
1 
7 
1 


9 








2 








2 






Total 


242 


153 


43 


21 


12 


13 


Per Cent... .. . .. 




62.2 


17.8 


8.7 


5.0 


5.4 









1 Data obtained from six County Superintendents. 



In larger schools 80 per cent of the teachers had been in 
their present positions less than two years as compared 
with 91 per cent in the one- and two-teacher schools, and 
more than twice as many teachers stay three consecutive 
years in one position as do in the smaller schools. 

3. As shown by data obtained from questionnaires sent 
to 3,226 rural teachers in the sixteen Southern States. In 
all there are 725 replies considered. There are 396 replies 
from teachers of one- and two-teacher schools, and 329 re- 
plies from teachers in schools that employ more than two 

TABLE 20. — Teachers of One- and Two-Teacher Schools, According to 
Consecutive Years' Experience in Present Position 1 



State 


Total 
number of 
teachers 
considered 


Number of teachers who have been in their 
present position 




lyr. 


2 yrs. 


3 yrs. 


4 yrs. 


5 yrs. 
or longer 


Alabama.. . ... 


33 
59 

3 

5 
28 
46 

8 
31 
39 

5 
32 
32 
18 
41 
16 


19 
30 

2 

1 
18 
24 

6 
22 
16 

3 
24 
20 
11 
26 
12 


11 
16 

1 

4 
5 
9 
1 
3 

18 
1 
5 
6 
5 
7 
3 


2 

7 




1 


Arkansas 


4 


2 


Florida 




Kentucky.. . 








Louisiana . . 


3 
3 
1 
1 
2 
1 
2 
1 
1 
2 
1 


1 
1 


1 


Maryland . 


9 


Mississippi 




Missouri _ 


3 
3 


2 


North Carolina .. 




Oklahoma 




South Carolina 


1 
4 




Tennessee . ... 


1 


Texas 


1 


Virginia . 


4 


2 


West Virginia . __ 










Total 


396 


224 


95 


27 


21 


19 


Per Cent 




59.1 


24.0 


6.8 


5.3 


5 









1 Obtained from Questionnaires. 



Rural Teachers in the South 



29 



teachers. These data are classified on the same basis as 
are the data in the above topic. In the one- and two-teacher 
schools 59.1 per cent of the teachers were teaching their 
first year in their present position ; 24 per cent were teach- 
ing their second year in their present position; 6.8 per cent 
were teaching their third year in their present position; 
5.3 per cent were teaching their fourth year in their pres- 
ent position ; and 5 per cent were teaching their fifth year 

TABLE 21. — Teachers of Rural Schools Employing More Than Two Teachers, 
According to Consecutive Years' Experience in Present Position 1 



State 


Total 

number of 

teachers 

considered 


Number of teacheis who have taught 
present position 


in their 




1 yr. 


2yrs. 


3 yrs. 


4 yrs. 


5 yrs. 
or more 


Alabama - .. 


33 
25 
6 
2 
39 
23 
15 
10 
19 
12 
41 
11 
31 
55 
7 


14 
11 

4 
2 

22 
3 
8 
1 

12 
8 

22 
7 

14 

32 
5 


7 
2 


2 
7 
1 


1 
2 
1 


9 


Arkansas... . 


3 


Floi ida 




Kentucky . . 






Louisiana .. 


10 
2 
2 
4 
2 
2 

12 

9 

7 
1 


3 
3 


3 
5 
3 
1 


4 


Mat ylar.d .. 


12 


Mississippi . . . 




Missouri. .. .. , 




2 


North Carolina _. 

Oklahoma 


2 
1 
2 
2 
2 
2 
1 


2 
1 


South Caiolina. .- . 


1 


4 


Tennessee 


2 


Texas . 


3 
3 


3 


Virginia .. ...._'_ 

West Virginia 


11 








Total 


329 


165 


60 


28 


23 


53 


Per Cent 




50.2 


18.2 


8.5 


7.0 


16.1 











1 Obtained from Questionnaires. 

or more in their present position. In the larger schools 
50.2 per cent were teaching their first year ; 18.2 per cent 
were teaching their second year ; 8.5 per cent were teaching 
their third year; 7 per cent were teaching their fourth 
year; and 16 per cent were teaching their fifth year or 
more. These data also tend to show that the tenure of 
teachers is longer in larger schools than in one- and two- 
teacher schools. 

Summary 

A summary table giving the per cents expressed in the 
six preceding tables will probably be the most effective 
epitome that can be presented. This summary table shows 
a wide variation in the data obtained from the teachers 
and the data obtained from the county superintendents. 
In the per cent teaching their first year in their present po- 
sition there is a difference of 21.6 per cent; in the per cent 
teaching their fifth or more years in their present position 
there is a difference of 14.4 per cent. 



30 



The Present Status of 



TABL,E 22. — Summary Table Showing the Per Cent of Teachers that Fall in Each 

Group of Consecutive Years in Present Position, as Shown by 

the Different Tables 



Number years 
in present 
position 



Per cent 

shown in 

table 16 (1) 



The median 
per cent 
shown by 

table 17 (1) 



Per cent 

shown by 

table 20 (2) 



Per cent 

shown by 

table 21 (2) 



Per cent 
shown by 
table 18 



Per cent 
shown by 
table 19 



lyr 

2 yrs 

3 yrs — 

4 yrs 

5 yrs. or mote 



63.2 

20.6 

8.2 

3.1 

2.7 



63.0 

20.7 

7.0 

3.2 

2.4 



59.1 

24.0 

6.8 

5.3 

5.0 



50.2 


71.8 


18.2 


19.2 


8.5 


5.8 


7.0 


1.3 


16.1 


1.7 



62.2 

17.8 

8.7 

5.0 

5.4 



1 Obtained from Educational Literature. 

2 Obtained from Questionnaires. 

3 Obtained from six county superintendents. 

Probably the figures that are most nearly representative 
of actual conditions are the medians derived from the sum- 
mary table. 

Medians Derived from the Above Table 

Consecutive Years in Present Position Median Per Cents 

One Year 63.1 

Two Years 19.9 

Three Years 7.6 

Four Years 4.1 

Five Years or more 3.85 

These medians show that 63.1 per cent of the rural teach- 
ers were teaching their first year in their present position ; 
19.9 per cent were teaching their second year ; 7.6 per cent 
were teaching their third year; 4.1 per cent were teaching 
their fourth year; and only 3.85 per cent were teaching 
their fifth year or more. These data all tend to show that 
the median rural teacher changes positions the first year 
and every two years thereafter. 



The Greatest Number of Consecutive Years 
Taught in Any One School 

This is another topic on which data were not available 
from educational literature. Of course county superin- 
tendents could not give this data in regard to all of their 
teachers. So only the data that were obtained from the 
questionnaires will be presented on this subject. 



Rural Teachers in the South 



31 



TABLE 23. — Teachers of One- and Two-Teacher Schools, According to the 
Greatest Number of Consecutive Years' Experience in Any Position 1 



State 


Total 

number of 

teachers 

considered 


Teachers who have taught in 


some one 


position 




lyr. 


2 yrs. 


3 yrs. 


4 yrs. 


5 yrs. 
or more 


Alabama.. . . . 


33 

64 

3 

5 

28 

47 

9 

31 

34 

32 

18 

38 

17 


10 
10 

1 

1 

10 
14 

2 
17 

9 
15 
10 
19 
10 


18 
26 


1 

12 
1 


2 
6 
1 


2 


Arkansas 

Florida 


10 


Kentucky 


4 
6 
9 
3 
6 
12 
7 
5 
9 
3 




Louisiana... 


6 

5 
2 
2 
5 
3 
2 
4 
2 


5 
2 
2 
3 
5 
5 


1 


Maryland 


17 


Mississippi 




Missouri.. . . 


3 


North Carolina . 


3 


Tennessee 


2 


Texas . _ . .. 


1 


Virginia 

West Virgiria . . 


3 
1 


3 

1 


Total 


396 


147 


118 


50 


36 


45 


Pet Cent 




37.1 


30.0 


12.6 


9.1 


11.4 









1 Obtained from Questionnaires. 

In one- and two-teacher schools 37.1 per cent of the teach- 
ers have never taught more than one year in any one school ; 
30 per cent have taught two consecutive years in one school ; 
12.6 per cent have taught three consecutive years in one 
school; 9.1 per cent have taught four consecutive years in 
one school; and only 11.4 per cent have taught as many as 
five consecutive years in one school. 

TABLE 24. — Teachers of Rural Schools Employing More Than Two Teachers, 

According to the Greatest Number of Consecutive Years' 

Experience in Any Position 1 



State 


Total 

number of 

teachers 

considered 


Number 


of teachers who have taught in some 
one position 




lyr. 


2yr». 


3 yrs. 


4 yrs. 


5 yrs. 
or more 


Alabama. 


33 
24 
6 
2 
39 
23 
15 
10 
19 
13 
41 
11 
31 
55 
7 


4 
3 


9 

3 
1 
1 

10 
2 
1 
2 
5 
3 

15 


6 
8 
2 


2 
4 
1 


12 


Arkansas. . 


6 


Floiida .. 


! 2 


Kentucky . 


1 

14 

2 

3 

1 

6 

4 

14 

6 

6 

19 

3 




Louisiana 

Maryland 


7 
3 
3 
1 
4 
2 
5 


2 
2 

7 
2 
1 


6 
14 


Mississippi . .. 

Missouri 

North Carolina . 

Oklahoma 


1 

4 
3 
4 


South Carolina 


1 

2 
6 
5 
2 


6 


Tennessee 


3 


Texas 


10 
11 


5 
6 
1 


4 




14 


West Virginia 


1 








Total ... .. 


329 


86 


73 


55 


35 


80 






Per Cent 




26.1 


22.2 


16.7 


10.7 


24.3 









1 Obtained from Questionnaires. 



32 The Present Status of 

The median teacher in one- and two-teacher schools has 
taught only two consecutive years in any one school. In 
the larger schools 26.1 per cent have taught only one year 
in any one school ; 22.2 per cent have taught two consecu- 
tive years in one school; 16.7 per cent have taught three 
consecutive years in one school; 10.7 per cent have taught 
four consecutive years in one school; and 24.3 per cent 
have taught five consecutive years or more in one school. 
The median for this group is three consecutive years. A 

TABLE 25. — Showing the Per Cents Derived from the Two Preceding Tables 



Consecutive vears in one school 



One and two-teacher schools 



Larger schools 



1 


37.1 


26.1 


2 


30.0 


22.2 


3 


12.6 


16.7 


4 


9.1 


10.7 


5 or more 


11.4 


24.3 



comparison of these per cents brings out the fact that, com- 
paratively speaking, more than twice as many teachers stay 
five consecutive years in the larger schools as do in the one- 
and two-teacher schools. It is further shown that more 
teach three and four consecutive years in the same school 
than do in the one- and two-teacher schools. In the larger 
schools more than one-half of the teachers have taught 
three consecutive years in one school, while in the one- and 
two-teacher schools less than one-third have taught as 
many as three consecutive years in one school. Here again 
the data tend to show that the tenure of teachers in the 
larger schools is longer than it is in the one- and two- 
teacher school. 

Three Types of Changes Made by Rural Teachers 

The preceding data bring out the fact that rural teachers 
are constantly changing positions. The following question 
arises : Do teachers go from smaller to larger schools, from 
one school to another school the same size, or from larger 
schools to smaller schools? The data obtained from the 
questionnaires will shed some light on this question. In 
one- and two-teacher schools 18.8 per cent of the teachers 
changed from a smaller to a larger school; 52.8 per cent 
changed from one school to another school the same size; 
28.4 per cent changed from a larger to a smaller school. 
The median teacher went to the same size school that he 
left. If going from a smaller school to a larger one is in- 
dicative of advancement, the median teacher in the one- 
and two-teacher schools is standing still. 



Rural Teachers in the South 



33 



TABUE 26. — Rural Teachers, Classified on the Basis of the Types of Changes 
They Made the Last Time 1 





One and two-teacher schools 


The larger schools 


State 


Smaller 

to larger 

school 


One school 
to another 
same size 


Larger to 

a smaller 

school 


Smaller 

to larger 

school 


One school 
to another 
same size 


Larger to 

a smaller 

school 




9 
15 


11 

27 

1 

2 

10 

14 

4 

18 

14 

2 

9 

19 

6 

11 

12 


7 
13 

1 

1 

13 

10 

4 

3 

4 

1 

11 

9 

3 

4 

2 


27 
19 

5 

2 
16 
15 

9 

6 
12 

7 
17 

7 

13 
20 

3 


2 
3 

2 


3 




1 


Florida. _. _ . 




Kentucky.. 






Louisiana 


3 
5 
1 
3 
5 
2 
3 
2 
1 
8 


4 
1 
1 


9 


Maryland . . 


1 




3 






North Carolina.. . 

Oklahoma .. 

South Carolina 

Tennessee.. ... 

Texas 

Virginia . 


2 
1 
4 
2 
1 
3 
1 


4 

2 
9 

9 

5 
2 








Total 


57 


160 


86 


187 


25 


50 


Per Cent 


18.8 


52.8 


28.4 


71.3 


9.6 


19.2 



1 Obtained from Questionnaires. 

In the larger schools 71.3 per cent of the teachers changed 
from a smaller to a larger school ; 9.6 per cent changed from 
one school to another school the same size; and 19.2 per 
cent changed from a larger to a smaller school. The me- 
dian teacher in this group changed from a smaller to a 
larger school. If these data are indicative of anything, it 
is that the teachers in the larger schools are more pro- 
gressive than the teachers in the one- and two-teacher 
schools. 

Tenure of the Median Rural Teacher 

The median rural teacher in one- and two-teacher schools 
has taught four years in three different schools. He has 
been in his present position one year, but has taught two 
consecutive years in one of the three schools during his 
teaching experience. The last change he made was from 
one school to another school the same size. 

The median rural teacher who taught in a school that em- 
ploys more than two teachers has taught five years or 
longer. During this period he has taught in three differ- 
ent schools. He has been in his present position only one 
year, but has taught three consecutive years in one of the 
three schools in which he has taught. The last change he 
made was from a smaller to a larger school. 



34 The Present Status of 

Conclusions 

The data presented in this chapter seem to warrant three 
conclusions. First, the teaching life of the median rural 
teacher is short, not over four years ; second, the' median 
rural teacher is itinerant ; he has not taught more than two 
consecutive years in one school ; third, the tenure of rural 
teachers is improved by larger schools. The first two con- 
clusions call forth two very pertinent questions: Why do 
teachers leave the rural schools? Why do rural teachers 
change from one rural school to another rural school? 
These two questions will be discussed in the next two chap- 
ters. 



CHAPTER II 

WHY TEACHERS LEAVE RURAL SCHOOLS 

The fact that the teaching life of rural teachers is short 
has been pointed out in the preceding discussions. It was 
observed that the median teacher in one- and two-teacher 
schools did not teach longer than four years, and that the 
median teacher in the larger schools remained in the pro- 
fession only five years. The question was raised : Why do 
the teachers leave the rural schools? Various educators 
have expressed their views in trying to answer this question, 
but no one seems to have tried to answer it by making a 
scientific investigation of the subject. A number of dog- 
matic statements by educators were found, but not one 
presented data as a basis for his deductions. Each writer 
seems to have answered this question to his own satisfac- 
tion, and the masses seem to accept the answers given. 

Reasons Given by Various Educators 

The following excerpts present concisely the types of 
discussions found in educational literature in regard to why 
teachers leave the rural schools : 

"First, where teachers can secure living accommoda- 
tions, they can do so only at such high cost that they cannot 
afford to teach for the small salaries which they are paid; 
second, in a great many communities teachers cannot get 
living accommodations 'for love or money;' third, in some 
communities the homes which would board the teachers are 
not desirable places for them to stay." 

(L. J. Hanifan, Teachers' Cottages, West Virginia School Journal, page 394. 
May, 1918.) 

"Lack of proper boarding places for teachers is, in many 
communities, the only and fundamental reason why the 
school is in a backward, starved condition. Salary of 
teachers or equipment of school building cannot offset this 
handicap." 

(Mary B. Flemington, The Teachers' Boarding Place, School Board Journal, 50, 
page 18.) 

"In rural communities settled by Americans many diffi- 
culties face almost every teacher as regards her boarding 
place. It is hard to discipline, in school, the children at 
whose home the teacher stays, if the parents are lax. School 
difficulties are discussed at the table by the parents and 
children, the parents often passing on the teacher's abiltiy 



36 The Present Status of 

or decisions before the children. The teacher must take 
the responsibility of getting herself and the children to 
school on time in the morning. The teacher has a cold 
room and no place to study ; she often must share her room 
and even her bed with one or two members of the family. 
The houses are poorly ventilated ; many of them screw on 
the storm windows with no ventilating opening, in the fall, 
for winter. The food is often heavy and greasy, intended 
for the men who do outside work. This, with exposure in 
all kinds of weather, and many other hardships, face the 
rural teacher who must live at some home near the school 
she is hired to teach.'' 

(Mary B. Flemington, School Board Journal, 50, page 18.) 

"Many young teachers begin in the country schools to get 
the experience necessary to secure a better position in the 
cities. They frequently use teaching as a stepping-stone 
to some other occupation. Often the young girl graduating 
from the high schools, the normals, and other higher insti- 
tutions of learning teaches several years until she marries." 

(A. C. Burkholder, The Rural Schools of Hayes County, Texas, The Normal 
School Bulletin, 7, pages 23, 24, February, 1918.) 

"The main causes for the short tenure of office in this 
area, as well as in the rural schools elsewhere in Texas, may 
be summarized as follows : Many young teachers, ambi- 
tious to teach in the city, regard the country schools as 
mere practice schools, where they may get the training in 
experience necessary to fit themselves for city positions, 
and, consequently, at first opportunity leave the country 
and take work in the city. Many teachers who would oth- 
erwise remain in the country find it impossible to do so 
because of social isolation, undesirable boarding places, 
small salaries, and poor school equipment. Most persons 
using teaching as a temporary employment, or stepping- 
stones to something else, are in the country and village 
schools. These consist, for the most part, of young men 
preparing for law, medicine, and the ministry, and of young 
women teaching until they marry." 

(E. B. Davis, A Study of Rural Schools in Travis County, Texas, University of 
Texas Bulletin, No. 67, page 39, December, 1916.) 

"The teacher of the one-room school has an average of 
thirty daily recitations; and she is 'inspected,' rather than 
visited or supervised, by the county superintendent from 
one to three times a year; perhaps more than four-fifths 
are their own janitors, and nearly all must walk from half 
a mile to two miles or more on a winter's morning to build 



Rural Teachers in the South 37 

their fires in a cold school building ; suitable boarding places 
are becoming more difficult to secure each year; and the 
formidable disadvantages are constantly forcing the best 
teachers into the city systems." 

(Arp, Rural Education and the Consolidated School, pages 146, 147.) 

"Country districts usually experience some difficulty in 
securing and retaining well-qualified, successful teachers. 
The chief reasons are : Unsatisfactory rooming and board- 
ing places for teachers, low salaries, too many classes, 
poorly heated and ventilated buildings, unattractive 
grounds, lack of equipment, no janitor, irregular attend- 
ance, terms too short, too much exposure, little or no chance 
for self -improvement, little or no chance to attend church, 
too few agreeable companions, too few lectures, entertain- 
ments, books, magazines, and newspapers." 

(Wilkinson, Rural School Management, page 397.) 

The reasons given by the various educators may be sum- 
marized as follows: Unsatisfactory rooming places, low 
salaries, too many classes, poorly heated and ventilated 
buildings, unattractive grounds, lack of equipment, no jan- 
itor, irregular attendance, short terms, too much exposure, 
little or no chance of self-improvement, little or no chance 
to attend church, too few agreeable companions, nothing for 
entertainment, desire to get into some other profession, to 
get married, and to get into a city school system. 

Six out of the seven educators quoted, mentioned unsat- 
isfactory boarding places, four mentioned salary, and none 
of the other reasons is mentioned by more than two. Thus, 
it seems evident to those who have considered the question 
of tenure of rural teachers, that poor boarding places and 
low salaries are the principal reasons why teachers leave 
the rural schools. 

Reasons as Shown by Data Obtained from Six 
County Superintendents 

The reasons given by these educators appear perfectly 
sound, but they seem to be based on nothing more than per- 
sonal opinion. They have presented no data to back their 
statements. While making this study, six county superin- 
tendents in five different states were visited. In each 
county the county superintendent was asked to take his list 
of teachers who taught in his county in 1917-1918 and check 
those teachers who did not teach in his county in 1918-1919. 
Each name marked was then considered separately, and 
the county superintendent was asked why he did not teach 



38 



The Present Status of 



in 1918-1919. If the superintendent did not know, the 
n?me was checked under the item: "Quit teaching, no rea- 
son known." 

In the six counties there were 601 white teachers teach- 
ing in the rural schools in 1917-1918. In 1918-1919, 253, 
or 42.1 per cent, of the same 601 teachers were not teach- 
ing in the rural schools of those six counties. 

The reasons given by the six county superintendents why 
these 253 teachers left the rural schools are presented in 
the following table : 

Reasons Why 253 Teachers Left the Rural Schools 1 



Reasons 



Number of teachers 



Per cent 



1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

S. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 
10. 
11. 




To go into a city system 

To improve their education 

To get into something more remunerative. 

To get married 

To assume home duties 

To quit teaching, no reason known 

To go into another county 

To go into the military service 

Inability to get a position 

111 health 

Death 

Total 




1 Obtained from six County Superintendents. 



This survey is not extensive enough to warrant stating 
definitely that the reasons given in the above table are the 
only ones that tend to drive the teachers out of the rural 
schools, but the results obtained are probably indicative of 
what would be found if every county superintendent in the 
United States were interviewed on the same subject, in the 
same manner. A comparative study of the data secured in 
these six counties seems to show that the data from any one 
county are indicative of what will be found in any other 
county. 

The above table tends to show four outstanding reasons 
why teachers leave the rural schools ; namely, "to get into 
something more remunerative," "to get married," "to go 
into another county," and "to go into the military service." 
There are in all eleven reasons given ; they range in order 
of importance from 23.71 per cent to .79 per cent. How- 
ever, only the four outstanding ones will be discussed here. 
These four reasons include 79.41 per cent, or nearly four- 
fifths, of the teachers who quit. In other words, four- 
fifths of the rural teachers quit teaching "to get into some- 
thing more remunerative," "to get married," "to go into 



Rural Teachers in the South 39 

another county," or "to go into the military service." Now 
that the last-mentioned reason is eliminated by the cessa- 
tion of the World War, there seem to be but three about 
which rural school administrators need to worry. And 
since it would not be advisable to eliminate the second, 
there seem to be but two left. However, the second might 
be eliminated to an extent, but not through discouraging 
marriages. The third reason may be partly overcome by 
better salaries, but it is likely that some of the teachers who 
go to other counties are those whom the county superintend- 
ent is not anxious to retain. Finally, the one big problem 
is to devise some plan whereby a greater revenue will come 
into the coffers of the rural school system. The rural teach- 
ers and the county superintendents must awaken the people 
to the realization of the fact that the rural schools will never 
function properly . until adequately financed ; that an effi- 
cient teaching corps with a degree of permanency cannot 
be had until their incomes are sufficient to secure for them 
the necessities of life and some of the ordinary pleasures 
which are so essential to one's success. A teacher is auto- 
matically placed in a class of a high consumptive capacity, 
but his income is so meager that he is either forced to lower 
his standard of living or else seek a more remunerative 
position. He usually does the latter, as has just been 
pointed out through the preceding data. Higher salaries 
will also induce more men to become rural teachers, and 
therefore the per cent of teachers who quit to get married 
will likely be reduced. 



40 



The Present Status of 



The graph below points out very tersely the order of im- 
portance of reasons why teachers leave the rural schools : 

A Distribution of the Reasons Why Teachers Left the Rural Schools 

5 10 15 ao 



% 



25% 



To get into something- more remuner- 

ative 237 



To get married 



To get into another county 

To go into the military service, 



21.7 
17.4 
16.6 



To quit teaching, no reason known. . . 1 ,0 

To go into a city system ^.v 

Inability to get a position <£»0 

To improve their education Crr 



To assume home duties. 



Ill health 
Death . . . 



1.6 

1.6 

.6 



Fig. 3 

Reasons Given by Teachers Themselves 

In order that an expression from the teachers might be 
given, the questionnaire on the following page was handed 
to sixty city teachers who have at some time taught in the 
rural schools. They checked the reasons that are shown in 
the table below. It is observed that 49, or more than 81 
per cent, of the 60 checked "better salary," and that 17, or 
28.3 per cent, checked it as the principal reason for leaving 
the rural schools; 42, or 70 per cent, checked "term was 
too short;" 41, or 68.3 per cent, "too many classes to teach." 
These three reasons stand out prominently as the reasons 
given by teachers for leaving the rural schools. From 
these replies it is further shown that a low salary is the 
principal cause that forces teachers to leave the rural 



Rural Teachers in the South 41 

schools. The other two reasons, in order of importance, 
are: "Short term" and "too many classes to teach." Both 
of which may be partially, if not wholly, solved by more 
money. Then it may still be stated that more money is the 
essential thing for the solution of the problem. It will 
give better salaries ; it will give a longer term ; it will make 
possible a system of consolidation that will reduce the num- 
ber of classes that one person has to teach. 

It is a striking fact that not a single county superintend- 
ent gave "unsatisfactory boarding place" as the reason why 
teachers left, only four of the teachers checked it, and but 
one of them checked it twice. In the minds of the educa- 
tors quoted at the first of this chapter, an unsatisfactory 
boarding place is one of the first reasons why efficient teach- 
ers cannot be had and kept in the rural schools. This is 
shown by the fact that six out of the seven gave "unsatis- 
factory boarding place," and it is the only reason that is 
mentioned by as many as six. No doubt this is a problem 
to be solved by rural teachers and rural school administra- 
tors, but laying so much stress on it is questionable when 
there are other reasons which appear to be much more vital. 

The question of why teachers leave the rural schools is 
closely related to the question of why teachers change from 
one rural school to another. The latter question will be 
discussed in the next chapter, and will, no doubt, shed some 
light on the question just discussed. 

A Copy of the Questionnaire That Was Handed to the Sixty City Teachers 
Who Have, at Some Time, Taught in Rural Schools 

Please check (X) the five items that influenced you most 
to leave the rural schools. Check twice (XX) the one item 
of the five that influenced you most. Don't check more than 
five. Read all the items before checking any. 

1. Difficult to get to school. 

2. Nothing to do during Saturday and Sunday. 

3. Too few agreeable companions. 

4. Community gossip. 

5. Factions in school district. 

6. Patrons took no interest in the school. 

7. The children were hard to discipline. 

8. The children were slow in learning. 

9. Too many classes to teach. 

10. Work was too hard. 

11. To get into a graded school. 

12. To get into a larger school. 

13. Irregular attendance. 

14. Term was too short. 



42 



The Present Status of 



15. Better salary. 

16. Boarding place was unsatisfactory. 

17. Had no place to entertain my friends. 

18. Boarding place was too far from school. 

19. Too much exposure. 

20. Had to do my own janitor work. 

21. Community health conditions undesirable. 

22. Principal wasn't agreeable. 

23. Poor school building. 

24. Poor equipment for the school. 

25. Poor playgrounds. 

26. Little chance for self -improvement. 

27. So I could attend a church of my own denomination. 

28. To be closer home. 

29. Don't think a teacher should stay too long in one place. 

30. Difficult to get laundrying done. 

32. Had planned to quit teaching, and when I decided to 

teach again, my old school was taken. 

33. Any reason not mentioned. Make this one of the five, 

if checked. 

Have you checked only five? 

Have you checked one twice? 

Reasons Given by Sixty City Teachers Why They Left the Rural Schools 1 



Reasons 



No. 
X 



No. 
XX 



Total 



Per cent 



1. Difficult to get to school 

2. Nothing to do during Saturday and Sunday 

3. Two few agreeable companions 

4. Community gossip 

5. Factions in school district 

6. Patrons took no interest in the school 

7. Too many ciasses to teach ', 

8. Work was too hard 

9. To get into a graded school 

10. To get into a larger school 

11. Irregular attendance 

12. Term was too short 

13. Better Salary 

14. Boarding place was unsatisfactory 

15. Had no place to entertain my friends 

16. Boarding place was too far from school 

1 7 . Too much exposure 

18. Had to do my own janitor work 

19. Community health conditions undesirable.. 

20. Poor school building 

21. Poor equipment for the school 

22. Poor playgrounds 

23. Little chance for self-improvement 

24. To be closer home , 

25. To get a longer contract 

26. Ambitious to advance in the rofession 



5 


1 


6 


2 

10 
1 




2 

10 

2 




1 


5 

4 

37 




5 

4 

41 




4 


7 


1 


8 


11 


4 


15 


16 


4 


20 


9 
35 




9 
42 


7 


32 


17 


49 


3 


1 


4 


1 
5 
6 
6 
2 




1 
5 
6 
6 
3 








1 


8 
20 

1 
17 




8 
20 

1 
29 






12 


13 


2 


15 


5 


1 


6 


1 


2 


3 



10 
3.3 

16.6 
3.3 
8.3 
6.6 

68.3 

13.3 

25 

33.3 

15 

70 

81.6 
6.6 
1.6 
8.3 

10 

10 
5 

13.3 

33.3 
1.6 

48.3 

25 

10 
5 



1 Per cent is based on number of teachers. 



CHAPTER III 

WHY TEACHERS CHANGE FROM ONE RURAL SCHOOL TO 
ANOTHER RURAL SCHOOL 

Reasons Why Rural Teachers Change Positions, 
as Given by Six County Superintendents 

1. Why teachers in one- and two-teacher schools change. 
According to the data obtained from county superintend- 
ents, there are three outstanding reasons why rural teach- 
ers in one- and two-teacher schools change positions. They 
are: "Better salary," "to be closer home," and "patrons 
didn't like him." "Better salary" influenced 42.4 per cent 
of these teachers to change positions the last time ; "to be 
closer home" influenced 27.4 per cent of them to change; 
and dissatisfaction among the patrons influenced 17.2 per 
cent of them to change. There are three other reasons 
that may be considered here of minor importance, accord- 
ing to the viewpoints of the county superintendents. 
These three range in importance, as to the number of 
teachers they affected, from 5.4 per cent to 9.6 per cent. 
They are in order of importance: "Changed by the county 
superintendent," 9.6 per cent ; "to get into a larger school," 
6.4 per cent; and "had planned to quit teaching, and when 
I decided to teach again, my old school was taken," 5.4 per 
cent. No other reason mentioned influenced more than 3 
per cent of the teachers in this group to change, and none 
of them was given as the most important reason why so 
high a per cent changed. 

It will be observed that 13 reasons were given by the 
county superintendents as the "most important" reason 
why teachers in this group changed positions. These vary 
in importance from .5 per cent to 38.7 per cent. Here 
again "better salary," "to be closer home," and "patrons 
didn't like him" are the outstanding reasons why teachers 
changed positions. Taken together, they were the princi- 
pal 1 reasons why 79.1 per cent of them changed. "Better 
salary" was the principal reason for 38.7 per cent of the 
changes, "to be closer home" was the principal reason for 
23.7 per cent of the changes, and "patrons didn't like him" 
was the principal reason for 16.7 per cent of the changes. 
The three minor reasons mentioned above were the three 
principal reasons for 13.4 per cent of the changes. They 

1 The word principal used to modify reasons means the one reason that was the 
*iost important in effecting a change. 



44 



The Present Status of 



rank in importance as follows: Superintendent changed 
6.4 per cent; 3.8 per cent did not decide to teach again un- 
til after their old school was taken ; and 3.2 per cent 
changed to get into a larger school. 

TABLE 1. — Reasons Why Teachers of One- and Two-Teacher Schools Changed 

Positions the Last Time 1 





O 

C 

o 


Reasons 

checked 

(XX) 


Reasons 
checked 

(X) 


Per cent of teachers 
affected by each 
reason. 


of the 
reasons 
in per 


Reasons 


E 

< 


ca 
to 
c 
cfl 
M 
u 

< 


'_. 
n. 
'ta 

0) 

■s. 


3 

to 

r. 


o 

Si 
w 

_) 

c 
e 
<u 


E 

< 


■j-. 
cfl 

BI 

Cfl 
cfl 


'& 

_Q. 
'») 

in 

'to 


s 
p 

BJ 
3 


CI 

en 

CJ 

C 

c 

o 


Importance 
principal 
expressed 
cent. 


1. Difficult to get to school _. . 


1 




















1 


.5 




2. Nothing to do Satin day and Sunday 




3. Too few agreeable companions . 


1 




















i 


.5 




4. Community gossip. __ . . 




5. Factions in the school district 


6 

3 


.... 


1 










1 
3 


-- 


-- 


4 


3.2 
1.6 


.5 


6. Patrons took no interest in school 


























































2 

2 

5 

12 

5 
2 

79 
1 


___. 


1 










2 
1 






1 

4 
3 
1 
2 


1.1 
1.1 
2.6 
6.4 
2.6 
1.1 
42.4 
.5 


.5 


10. Work was too hard . . _ 




11. To get into a giaded school __ _ __ 


4 
3 


i 


-- 


1 


2 
2 
1 

11 


1 


2.6 


12. To get into a largei school . . ._ 


3.2 


13. Irregular attendance . . 


1.1 


14. Term was too short . ._ __ 


















.5 


15. Better salary 


3 


8 


1 


49 


1 


1 
1 


3 


-" 


38.7 


16. Boaiding place was unsatisfactory 
















































19. Too much exposui e _. _ 




























20. Had to do my own janitor work _ 


1 
1 
1 

2 
1 














1 
1 

2 
1 






1 


.5 
.5 

1.1 
.5 




21. Community health conditions poor__ 

22. Pi inci pal wasn't agreeable .. __ 
















23. Poor school building _ _ ... _ . 




24. Poor equipment for the school 
















25. Poor playgrounds . . 












































27. So I could attend a church of my own 
denomination.. 




























28. To be closer home.. 


51 

4 


6 

1 


5 


6 

1 


11 


16 





i 


-- 


4 


2 
2 


27.4 
2.1 


23.7 


29. Don't think a teacher should stay too 

long in one place . . . 

30. Difficult to get laundering done.. 


1.1 






























32. Had planned to quit teaching and when I 
decided to teach again my old school 
was taken.. .. . _ 


10 


1 


.. 


2 


.. 


4 






1 


__ 


2 


5.4 


3.8 


33. To get away from home 




34. Changed by the county superintendent 

35. To be nearer town . ____ 


18 
1 


1 


1 


3 


1 


7 


1 


-- 


1 


-- 


3 


9.6 

.5 


6.4 

.5 


36. My school was consolidated 










37. Patron's didn't like him . . 


32 


1 


2 


3 


6 


19 










1 


17.2 


16.7 


38. . . 












39. 




























40. . 

























































1 Obtained from County Superintendents. 



According to county superintendents, there are six rea- 
sons to which 92.5 per cent of the changes made in one- and 
two-teacher schools are due. They are, in order of impor- 
tance: "Better salary," "to be closer home," "patrons didn't 
like him," "changed by the county superintendent," "had 



Rural Teachers in the South 45 

planned to quit teaching, and when I decided to teach again, 
my old school was taken," and "to get into a larger school." 
The most significant deduction to be made from these 
data is that 79.1 per cent of the changes made in these 
schools are due to the first three reasons named above. 

2. Why teachers in schools that employ more than two 
teachers change. According to the data there are four out- 
standing reasons which influenced the teachers in this 
group to change positions. The first two, "better salary" 
and "to be closer home," are identical with the first two 
reasons that influenced more of the teachers who teach in 
one- and two-teacher schools. The other two reasons, in 
order of importance, are: "To get into a graded school," 
"to get into a larger school." The last one of the four is 
one of the minor reasons mentioned in the other group. In 
this group with more than two teachers in a school, "better 
salary" influenced 36.9 per cent of the teachers; "to be 
closer home" influenced 31.1 per cent ; "to get into a graded 
school" influenced 18.9 per cent; and "to get into a larger 
school" influenced 16.4 per cent. There are two other rea- 
sons that may be considered as minor reasons. 7.4 per cent 
were influenced by their patrons not liking them, and the 
county superintendent changed 5.7 per cent. No other one 
reason influenced more than 3.3 per cent of them. 



46 



The Present Status of 



TABLE 2. 



-Reasons Why Teachers of Rural Schools that Employ More Than Two 
Teachers Changed Positions the Last Time 1 



6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 
22. 
23. 
24. 
25. 
26. 
27. 

28. 
29. 

30. 
31. 

32. 



33. 
34. 
35. 
36. 
37. 
38. 
39. 
40. 



Reasons 





Reasons 


Reasons 


£J3 
«3 a 




checked 


checked 




^ 




(XX) 




(X) 


?, >> 












+J •" 


o 
















, w 








to 

e 


to 

TO 
tn 

c 


o. 
o, 

'j5 


'C 
a 



Ol 


o 
0] 

CO 


TO 

e 


to 

TO 

C 


a 
a. 

m 


u 


w 

71 
g 


1) 

aj 

V 


C "O 

^£ c 

C y C 

fi 5 22 


(2 

TO 
u 

o 


XI 
to 

< 


cd 

<: 


01 


c 
(5 

o 


TO 

< 


TO 

M 

< 


V) 

01 


c 

c 


5 TO u 

On 



.Sac 
, wi x ey 
a. 41 u 



Difficult to get to school 

Nothing to do Saturday and Sunday. 

Too few agreeable companions 

Community gossip 

Factions in the school district 

Patrons took no interest in school 

Children were haid to discipline 

Children were slow to learn 

Too many classes to teach 

Work was too hard 

To get into a giaded school 

To get into a larger school 

Irregular attendance 

Term was too short 

Better salary 

Boarding place was unsatisfactory 

No place to entertain my friends 

Boarding place too far from school — 

Too much exposure 

Had to do my own janitor work 

Commurity health conditions poor... 

Principal wasn't agreeable 

Poor school building 

Poor equipment for the school 

Poor playgrounds- . . 

Little chance for self-improvement... 
So I could attend a church of my own 

denomination 

To be closer home 

Don't think a teacher should stay too 

long in one place 

Difficult to get laundering done 

To get a longer contract 

Had planned to quit teaching and when I 

decided to teach again my old school 

was taken 

To get away from home 

Changed by the county superintendent 

To be nearer town 

My school was consolidated 

Patrons didn't like him 

Give my children better opportunities 



4 
23 

20 



1 

45 
1 



38 
2 



13 



10 



14 



.8 
2.5 



3.3 
18.9 
16.4 



36.9 



2.5 
2.5 



31.1 

1.6 



3.3 
1.6 

5.7 



74 



15.6 
11.4 



28.7 



28.7 
1.6 



3.3 
1.8 
2.5 



5.7 



1 Obtained from County Superintendents. 



Twelve principal 1 reasons were given why the teachers 
in this group changed positions the last time. These rea- 
sons vary in importance from .8 per cent to 28.7 per cent. 
The four outstanding reasons mentioned in the preceding 
paragraph are also the four outstanding principal reasons 



1 The word principal used to modify reasons means the one reason that was 
the most important in effecting a change. 



Rural Teachers in the South 47 

why teachers in this group change positions. These four 
reasons were the principal things that caused 84.4 per cent 
of the teachers in this group to change. "Better salary" 
was the principal reason why 28.7 per cent changed; "to 
be closer home" was the principal reason why 28.7 per cent 
changed; "to get into a graded school" was the principal 
reason why 15.6 per cent changed ; and "to get into a larger 
school" was the principal reason why 11.4 per cent changed. 
The two minor reasons mentioned were, the principal rea- 
sons why 8.2 per cent changed. "Patrons didn't like them" 
was the principal reason why 5.7 per cent changed ; and the 
county superintendent changed 2.5 per cent. Again six 
things constitute the principal reasons why more than 92 
per cent of the rural teachers changed positions, and it is a 
most significant fact that five of these things are identical 
in both groups. The two reasons that are not identical are : 
"To get into graded school," which is in the second group, 
but not in the first; "had planned to quit teaching, and 
when I decided to teach again, my old school was taken," 
which is one of the six in the first group, but not in the sec- 
ond. Although this last-named reason does not come in 
as one of the six mentioned in the second group, it does 
rank higher as a principal reason than "changed by the 
county superintendent." Thus, by adding one more reason 
in each group so as to have seven identical things, it is ob- 
served that these seven reasons are the principal causes for 
more than 95 per cent of all the changes that are made in 
the rural schools in either or both groups. 

A very effective graphic comparison of the importance 
of each principal reason in each group is given below. 

An Explanation of the Graph 

The black bars present the principal reasons why the 
teachers of one- and two-teacher schools changed positions 
the last time. The white bars present the principal reasons 
why the teachers of schools that employ more than two 
teachers changed positions the last time. The per cents 



48 



The Present Status of 



show the per cent of the whole number of teachers that 
each reason influenced most. 



Per Cent of Changes Due to Each Reason, as Shown by the Principal Reasons Given by 

County Superintendents 



Better salary ^6.7 

2A.7 

To be closer home 23- 7 

287 

Patrons didn't like him ,6 /^ 

Changed by the superintendent 6.4- 

2.5 

Planned to quit teaching, and when I 3.8 
decided to teach again, school taken 3.3 

To get into a larger school 3.2. 

M.4 

To get into a graded school l.b 

15.6 

Don't think a teacher should stay too 1.1 
long in one place '•" 

Irregular attendance 

Factions in the school district -5 

Too many classes to teach 5 

Term was too short 5 

To be nearer town .5 



To get away from home .8 

Poor school building 6 ] 

Give my children better opportunities .60 




40% 



[Teachers of one- and two-teacher school 
3 Teachers of the larger schools 



Fig. 4 

"Better salary" caused a greater per cent of changes in 
the one- and two-teacher schools than in the larger schools. 
"To be closer home" did not cause as large a per cent of 
changes in the one- and two-teacher schools as it did in the 
larger schools. "Patrons didn't like him" caused a much 
larger per cent of changes in the one- and two-teacher 
schoools than it did in the larger schools. This may indi- 
cate that the teachers in the smaller schools are not so well 
qualified and therefore not so efficient as the teachers in the 
larger schools, and it was pointed out in chapter I that they 
have not had as much experience. A larger per cent of the 
teachers of one- and two-teacher schools were changed by 
the county superintendents than were in the larger schools. 



Rural Teachers in the South 49 

Practically the same per cent in both groups had planned 
to quit teaching, and when they decided to teach again, 
their old schools were taken. 'To get into a larger school" 
influenced a very small per cent in the one- and two-teacher 
schools, but in the larger schools it was quite an important 
reason for changes. It is perfectly natural that this reason 
would vary in importance in these two groups. In the one- 
and two-teacher schools there can be but little changing 
from a smaller to a larger school, and in chapter I it was 
pointed out that there are very few such changes made in 
this group. On the other hand, it was pointed out in chap- 
ter I that more than 71 per cent of the teachers in the larger 
schools went from a smaller school to a larger one. "To 
get into a graded school" affected a very small per cent in 
the one- and two-teacher schools. Of course nothing else 
would be expected, for most of the smaller schools are not 
graded. In the larger schools it was quite an important 
reason. The per cent of teachers influenced to change by 
other reasons is about the same in both groups. In fact, a 
very small per cent in either group seem to be influenced by 
either of the other reasons. 

The graph shows very concisely the importance of each 
reason in each group and makes a striking comparison of 
each reason in both groups. In the first group 79 per cent 
of the changes are due to three causes ; in the second group 
84 per cent of the changes are due to four causes. 

The most important deduction that might be made from 
the graph is that the teachers in the larger schools seem to 
be giving more satisfactory services than the teachers in 
the smaller schools. 

Conclusions 

The data obtained from county superintendents seem to 
justify the following conclusions : First, seven things con- 
stitute the principal reasons to which over 95 per cent of 
the changes in all of the rural schools are due ; second, the 
better qualified and more experienced teachers are found 
in the larger schools ; third, the progressive teacher does 
not stay in the one- and two-teacher schools long, but 
changes to a larger school ; fourth, there is more dissatisfac- 
tion in regard to the teacher among the patrons of one- and 
two-teacher schools than among the patrons of larger 
schools; fifth, three times as many teachers were failures 
and disliked by the patrons of one- and two-teacher schools 
as were failures and disliked by patrons of the larger 
schools. 



50 



The Present Status of 



Reasons Given by Rural Teachers Why They 
Change Positions 

1. Why teachers in one- and two-teacher schools changed. 
The results obtained from the questionnaires sent to the 
rural teachers show that there are three reasons, each of 
which was checked by more than 30 per cent' of the teachers 
in one- and two-teacher schools. "Better salary" was 
checked by 55 per cent; "too many classes to teach" was 



TABLE 3.- 



-The Number of Teachers in One- and Two-Teacher Schools, by 
States, Who Checked Each Reason Once (X) 1 



Reasons 





















re 

c 




re 
(5 










re 

FS 


<n 

re 


re 


u 


a 


- 

= 


— 


•- 


c 

u 

u 


re 

B 





h 

u 






re 


O 


re 

a 

< 


a 

re 

u 

< 


3 

'u 



S3 


- 
a 

M 


en 

'5 




u 







J3 

i- 
z 

2 


3 

c 


ja 


03 


41 

= 

e 
o 

:- 


rt 

X 
4) 


'8 



1. Difficult to get to school 

2. Nothing to do Satin day and Sunday 

3. Too few agreeable companions 

4. Community gossip 

5. Factions in the school district 

6. Patrons took no inteiest in school 

7. Children weie hard to discipline 

8. Childien were slow to learn 

9. Too many classes to teach 

10. Work was too hard 

11. To get into a graded school 

12. To get into a larger school 

13. Irregular attendance 

14. Term was too short 

15. Better salary 

16. Boarding place was unsatisfactory 

17. No place to entertain my friends 

18. Boarding piace too fai from school 

19. Too much exposuie 

20. Had to do my own janitor work 

21. Community health conditions poor 

22. Principal wasn't agreeable 

23. Poor school building 

24. Poor equipment for the school 

25. Poor playgrounds 

26. Little chance for self -improvement ..... 

27. So I could attend a church of my own 
. denomination 

28 To be closer home 

29. Don't think a teacher should stay too 
Ion g in one place 

30. Diffi cult to get laundering done 

31. To get a longer contract c 

32. Had planned to quit teaching and when I 
decided to teach again my old school 
was taken 



47 


6 


15 




1 


2 


6 


2 


4 


2 


1 




2 




2 


33 


3 


4 


2 


1 


4 


4 


1 


3 


2 


1 


4 


2 


2 




35 


2 


4 






4 


4 


1 


1 


5 


1 


3 


7 




1 


44 


5 


10 






2 


2 


2 


4 


5 


. 


5 


3 


2 


3 


40 


4 


11 






5 


2 


3 


5 


2 


1 


3 


1 


1 


2 


92 


8 


17 


2 


1 





7 


5 


4 


8 


2 


5 


10 


7 


6 


35 


3 


5 






1 


7 


1 


1 


4 




5 




3 


2 


21 




1 






1 


3 






4 




4 


2 




3 


117 


14 


22 


1 


1 


5 


5 


5 


9 


8 


1 


9 


12 


8 


12 


22 


2 


4 




1 


2 


1 




2 


2 




2 




1 


4 


38 




7 








6 




4 


3 




2 


3 


4 


7 


34 


6 


6 






6 


1 




2 


3 






4 


4 


1 


60 


5 


12 


1 




3 


3 


1 


3 


10 


_. 


7 


4 


1 


5 


72 


5 


17 


1 


1 


6 


1 




3 


11 


_. 


12 




8 


6 


137 


15 


20 


1 


2 


13 


10 


7 


13 


13 


1 


10 


in 


6 


11 


28 


1 


2 






7 


1 




2 


4 


1 


3 


4 




2 


10 


3 


1 






3 


1 






1 








1 




31 


1 


3 






2 


3 


i 


5 


6 




2 


2 


2 


2 


35 


3 


5 




1 


4 


5 


2 


2 


4 




1 


4 




2 


71 


7 


12 






3 


10 


1 


8 


6 


__ 


3 


7 


1 


1 


7 




1 






2 






1 


1 


.. 


_. 


2 


._ 


__ 


7 


2 


1 




1 


1 














1 


__ 


_ 


56 


3 


14 




1 


4 


2 


2 


6 


6 




4 


3 


4 


6 


77 


7 


13 






4 


5 


3 


9 


5 


2 


8 


/ 


4 


5 


22 


1 


5 








2 


._ 




2 


2 




2 


._ 


4 


74 


7 


10 


2 


1 


8 


7 


1 


7 


1 


-- 


7 


9 


4 


4 


11 


2 


4 






2 


1 






1 








1 




46 


4 


9 





2 


2 


4 


3 


4 


6 


-- 


4 


1 


2 


3 


22 


2 


3 






1 


1 




4 


4 




1 


1 




3 


5 


2 




















1 




i 


1 


33 


3 


6 


.... 


1 


1 


1 


-- 


1 


2 


-- 


9 


4 


i 


3 


11 


1 


3 






1 


1 


4 


-- 


1 













1 From Questionnaires. 



checked by 40 per cent; and "patrons took no interest in 
the school" was checked by 30.7 per cent. There are five 
reasons, each of which was checked by more than 20 but 
less than 30 per cent of the teachers. "Term was too short" 
was checked by 24.8 per cent; "little chance for self-im- 



Rural Teachers in the South 



51 



provement" was checked by 23.7 per cent; "poor equip- 
ment for the school" was checked by 23.2 per cent; "to be 
closer home" was checked by 21.2 per cent; and "had to do 
my own janitor work" was checked by 20.4 per cent. 
Eleven of the other reasons were each checked by more 
than 10 per cent but less than 20 per cent. The other thir- 
teen reasons were each checked by less than 10 per cent of 
the teachers. 

There were twenty-nine of the thirty-two reasons checked 
twice. They vary in importance from .4 per cent to 22.2 
per cent. "Better salary" was the principal cause of 22.2 

TABLE 4. — The Number of Teachers in One- and Two-Teacher Schools, by 
States, Who Checked Each Reason Twice (XX) 1 



Reasons 



rt 


V) 




F 


w 


rt 


rt 


C 


XI 




a! 


y 








< 


< 


to 



1. Diffi cult to get to school 


7 
1 
6 
9 
5 
18 

i 

26 

3 

7 

7 

6 

17 

60 

4 

2 
4 
2 

4 
6 
6 
3 
11 

1 
30 

3 


1 
1 


1 






2 

2 
1 


1 

2 

1 
i 
1 


? 
1 
1 

i 


i 

i 

i 

8 

1 
1 
1 

1 
2 

2 
5 


2 
1 
3 

2 

3 
1 

1 
"l 

i 
1 

4 
1 


"l 

"i 


i 
"i 

3 

i 

3 
3 
1 

1 
1 


1 
1 

1 
1 
2 
1 
2 

2 
1 

~5 
1 

1 
2 

1 


1 
1 

3 

1 
1 

~2 

4 
1 

1 
1 
1 


2 

2 
1 

3 

3 

i 
1 

1 
3 
5 

1 

6 


1 


2. Nothing to do Saturday and Sunday 

3. Too few agreeable companions. _. 




4. Community gossip. _ 


1 
1 
1 
1 

.... 


1 
2 
3 
i 

7 








5. Factions in the school district . 




6. Patrons took no interest in school 

7. Children were hard to discipline . 

8. Children were slow in learning. .. 


2 


9. Too many classes to teach . 


1 


10. Work was too hard. . 




11. To get into a graded school _ 


2 
1 






? 


12. To get into a larger school .. . _ 




13. Irregular attendance 




1 
1 


3 


1 
1 
3 






1 

5 

1 
1 


6 

14 
1 


2 




15. Better salary . _ _. ._ 


3 


16. Boai ding piace was unsatisfactory.. . 

17. No place to entertain my friends 

18. Boarding place too far from school 




19. Too much exposure ... 


1 








1 

1 
1 
1 

13 


i 

i 


1 


20. Had to do my own janitor work. 




21. Community health conditions poor 

22. Principal wasn't agreeable 














23. Poor school building 










1 


?. 


24. Poor equipment for the school 












25. Poor playgrounds 


2 






1 
1 


2 
2 




26. Little chance for self-improvement 


1 


27. So I could attend a church of my own 
denomination _ . 










28. To be closer home 





1 

1 






29. Don't think a teacher should stay too 
long in oi e place ..... . ... 








31. To get a longer contract. . 


6 
9 





1 
3 






2 












1 


1 
1 


-- 


3 
2 




32. Had planned to quit teaching and when I 
decided to teach again my old school 
was taken . 


1 







1 From Questionnaires. 



per cent of the changes ; "to be closer home" was the prin- 
cipal cause of 11.1 per cent of the changes; "too many 
classes to teach" was the principal cause of 9.6 per cent of 



52 



The Present Status of 



the changes; "patrons took no interest in the school" was 
the principal cause of 6.6 per cent of the changes; and 
"term was too short" caused 6.3 per cent of the changes. 
These five causes are the principal reasons to which 55.8 
per cent of the changes in one- and two-teacher schools are 
due. It might be stated that "better salary" and "to be 
closer home" cause 33.3 per cent of all the changes, and 
that "better salary" alone causes more than twice as many 
changes as any other one reason. In fact, if "to be closer 
home" is left out, it is more important than any three of 
the other reasons. It may then be said that "better salary" 
is the one outstanding reason why teachers in this group 
change positions. 

TABLE 5. — Reasons for Changes of Positions as Indicated by Teachers of 
One- and Two-Teacher Schools 



Reasons 









chers 
each 
e or 




V y 




■8- 


"5 rt .3 




+j y 

M g 


rt i) g 




co ~ y 


« .8 




O V c 


^b,^ 


a 


+"-* o^- 


B 


B+- 1 


o 


CJ 


o t a 1 
checki 
reason 


o t a 1 
checki 
l eason 


-M.fi B • 


■a 

B 

a 

u 


er cen 
whoc 
reaso 
twice 


h 


H 





Ph 



« %s 

f- TO , — * 

•g « . 

cot3 g 

y y.s 

^-cjS 
+j J3 B 

b y o 

Hi n m 

& is k 



1. Difficult to get to school 

2. Nothing to do Saturday and Sunday 

3. Too few agreeable companions 

4. Community gossip 

5 . Factions in the school district 

6. Patrons took no interest in school 

7. Children were hard to discipline 

8 . Children were slow in learning 

9. Too many classes to teach 

10. Work was too hard 

11. To get into a graded school 

12. To get into a larger school 

13. Irregular attendance 

14. Term was too short 

15. Better salary 

1 6 . Boarding place was unsatisfactory 

1 7 . No place to entertain my friends 

18. Boarding place too far from school 

19. Too much exposure 

20. Had to do my own janitor work 

2 1 . Community he alth conditions poor 

22. Principal wasn't agreeable 

23. Poor school building 

24. Poor equipment for the school 

25. Poor playgrounds 

26. Little chance for self-improvement 

27. So I could attend a church of my own 

denomination 

28. To be closer home 

29. Don't think a teacher should stay too 

long in one place 

30. Difficult to get laundering done 

3 1 . To get a longer contract 

32. Had planned to quit teaching and when I 

decided to teach again my old school 
was taken 



47 


7 


54 


15.1 


33 


1 


34 


9.5 


35 


6 


41 


11.2 


44 


9 


53 


14.8 


40 


5 


45 


12.6 


92 


18 


110 


30.7 


35 


7 


42 


11.7 


21 


1 


22 


6.2 


117 


26 


143 


40.0 


22 


3 


25 


7.0 


38 


7 


45 


12.6 


34 


7 


41 


11.2 


60 


6 


66 


18.4 


72 


17 


89 


24.8 


137 


60 


197 


55.0 


28 


4 


32 


9.0 


10 
31 




10 
33 


2.8 
9.2 


2 


35 


4 


39 


10.9 


71 


2 


73 


20.4 


7 
7 




7 
11 


2.0 

3.1 


4 


56 


6 


62 


16.8 


77 


6 


83 


22.2 


22 


3 


25 


7.0 


74 


11 


85 


23.7 


11 


1 


12 


3.3 


46 


30 


76 


21.2 


22 


3. 


25 


7.0 


5 
33 




5 
39 


1.4 
10.9 


6 


11 


9 


20 


5.6 



2.6 
.4 
2.2 
3.3 
1.8 
6.6 
2.6 
.4 
9.6 
1.1 
2.6 
9.6 
2.2 
6.3 
22.2 
1.4 



.7 
1.4 

.7 



1.4 
2.2 
2.2 
1.1 
4.1 

.4 
11.1 

1.1 

"~2~2~ 

3.3 



1 This per cent is figured with 358 as the base. 
a This per cent is figured with 271 as the base. 



Rural Teachers in the South 



53 



TABLE 6. — The Number of Teachers in Schools Employing More Than Two 
Teachers, by States, Who Checked Each Reason Once 1 



Reasons 





















c 




s 










BJ 

n 


01 

xn 


rt 


>> 


rt 

c 


■v 

U 


'S. 


a 

o 

V. 



u 

o 


?! 

E 

o 




u 

U 






rt 





a 

X) 


e 
ni 
M 
u 


3 
£ 


3 
C 


V, 

"5 














+j 

3 






K 

V 


c 



1. Difficult to get to school 

2. Nothing to do Saturday and Sunday 

3 . Too few agreeable companions 

4. Community gossip 

5. Factions in the school district 

6. Patrons took no interest in school 

7. Children were hard to discipline 

8. Children were slow in learning 

9. Too many classes to teach 

10. Work was too hard 

1 1 . To get into a graded school 

12. To get into a larger school... 

13. Irregular attendance 

14. Term was too short 

15. Better salary 

16. Boarding place was unsatisfactory 

17. No place to entertain my friends 

18. Boarding place too far from school 

19. Too much exposure 

20. Had to do my own janitor work 

21. Community health conditions poor 

22. Principal wasn't agreeable 

23. Poor school building 

24. Poor equipment for the school 

25. Poor playgrounds 

26. Little chance for self-improvement 

27. So I could attend a church of my own 

denomination 

28. To be closer home 

29. Don't think a teacher should stay too 

long in one place 

30. Difficult to get laundering done 

31. To get a longer contract 

32. Had planned to quit teaching and when I 

decided to teach again my old school 
was taken 



1 From Questionnaires. 

Number 33 in the questionnaire asked for any reason 
not mentioned. The following reasons were given by teach- 
ers in one- and two-teacher schools : 



Reasons Number Who Gave It 

To enter school 4 

To teach with my husband 2 

Married, began teaching again after my husband died 2 

Too many relatives in the school 2 

Stopped teaching a while to rest 1 

To put my daughter in a high school 1 

To become principal 1 

Had been in school with most of the children, thought I would suc- 
ceed better in a school where the children did not know me 1 



54 The Present Status of 

Since these reasons affected less than 2 per cent of the 
teachers in this group, they would be counted negligible 
where there are so many other reasons that affect a much 
larger per cent. 

2. Why teachers in schools with more than two teachers 
change. In this group 57 per cent of the teachers checked 
"better salary;" 32 per cent checked "too many classes to 
teach;" 26.7 per cent checked "to be closer home;" 26.7 per 
cent checked "little chance of self-improvement;" 26.3 per 
cent checked "to get into a larger school;" and 21.3 per 
cent checked "term was too short." Twelve of the other 
reasons were each checked by more than 10 per cent of the 
teachers, but less than 20 per cent of them. Of the other 
fourteen reasons, none was checked by 10 per cent of the 
teachers. 

This group checked only twenty-two of the different rea- 
sons twice. They vary in the per cent of teachers checking 
them from .4 per cent to 29 per cent. 29 per cent of the 
teachers checked "better salary" twice; 16.6 per cent 



Rural Teachers in the South 



55 



TABLE 7. — The Number of Teachers in Schools that Employ More Than Two 
Teachers, by States, Who Checked Each Reason Twice 1 



Reasons 


o 


S 
a 

XI 

< 


CO 

a 

B 

a 
M 
1-1 

< 


JO 
'ii 

O 

to 


o 

a 

QJ 

M 


c 

2 

'7: 
'3 




e 

u 
« 


'S 

p. 

as 

'us 

as 


'u 

j 



71 
A 

s 


n 
a 

o 

M 
O 

si 

V. 




B 






73 

■0 

u 

O 

3 


V 
V 
US 

as 

0J 

c 

d 

H 


CO 

S 

Eh 


'E 

H 

> 


2 
a 
'3 

H 

> 

as 


1. Difficult to get to school. . _. . 


































2. Nothing to do Saturday and Sunday 

3. Too few agreeable companions. __ 


5 
8 

11 
8 
5 
1 
8 
2 
7 

13 
5 
9 

70 

14 

1 










1 


-- 


1 
1 


-- 


1 

2 

2 
1 

4 


"I 

1 

2 


3 
4 
? 
2 

4 

1 
1 
2 
3 

8 

5 


1 
"I 

"I 

3 


"i 

2 

1 

3 
1 
3 
7 
3 


2 

"I 

1 
1 
1 

1 

2 
2 

1 
4 
2 




4. Community gossip. ._ .:__ .. . 












5 . Factions in th e school district .. . 










1 
1 


1 

1 




6. Patrons took no interest in school.. .. 


3 

1 










7. Children were hard to discipline . 

8. Children were slow in learning 


2 


1 


:: 


— 


10. Work was too hard. ....... 




11. To get into a graded school .. 










1 

3 

8 
1 


2 

4 
1 


4 


1 
1 

1 

1 


1 


12. To get into a larger school. . ._ ._ 


"il" 

2 


1 

2 
10 


2 
















7 


16. Boarding place was unsatisfactory. . 




1 7 . No place to entertain my friends 

18. Boarding place too far from school. 










19. Too much exposure .. 


















20. Had to do my own janitor work 

21. Community health conditions poor ._ _ 

22. Principal wasn't agreeable. ._ 


10 
2 










5 










1 


2 


-- 


1 


1 






1 








1 








































26. Little chance for self-improvement 

27. So I could attend a church of my own 


il 


.... 


2 


.... 


-- 


-- 


2 


-- 


1 


-- 


2 


2 


-- 


2 


-- 


-- 


28. To be closer home.. ... ... 

29. Don't think a teacher should stay too 


40 
6 


6 


3 






S 


'6 
2 


1 
1 


1 


3 


-- 


"■ 


2 


"■ 


14 

2 


-- 


















1 
4 






1 












1 




2 






1 




32. Had planned to quit teaching and when I 
decided to teach again my old school 





























1 From Questionnaires. 



checked u to be closer home" twice; 5.8 per cent checked 
"boarding place was unsatisfactory" twice; and 5.4 per 
cent checked "to get into a larger school" twice. Here, as 
has always been found, "better salary" is the outstanding 
cause of changes, with "to be closer home" ranking second. 
There are two other reasons that each caused 5 per cent 
of the changes. None of the other eighteen caused more 
than 4.6 per cent. In this group the four reasons named 
are the principal causes of 56.8 per cent of all the changes. 
In the group of one- and two-teacher schools it was found 



56 



The Present Status of 



TABLE 8. — Reasons for Changes of Positions as Indicated by Rural Teachers of 
Schools Employing More Than Two Teachers 



Reasons 



2-c 


01 JH 




01 .a fe 




.a S 






V 


o 






d"0 e\ 






S4>y_ 


1) u 

— J2 ss 




o 


w> ^ 

+> 2 


(3 O O 


rtag 

-i- 1 o ui 


TJ 


w 9, ° a 


w *> GJ 


05 
u 


fefS's 


H 


o 


£**«■* 



•g <u 

CS-T) ■ 
<" V Ji 

Cue: 

4) _ C 

uc ji 
"-^ s 



1. Difficult to get to school 

2. Nothing to do Saturday and Sunday 

3 . Too few agreeable companions 

4. Community gossip 

5 . Factions in the school district 

6. Patrons took no interest in school 

7. Children were hard to discipline 

8. Children were slow in learning 

9. Too many classes to teach 

10. Work was too hard 

1 1 . To get into a graded school 

12. To get into a larger school 

13. Irregular attendance 

14. Term was too short 

15. Better salary 

16. Boarding place was unsatisfactory 

1 7 . No place to entertain my friends 

18. Boarding place too far from school 

19. Too much exposure 

20. Had to do my own janitor work 

21. Community health conditions poor 

22. Principal wasn't agreeable 

23. Poor school building 

24. Poor equipment for the school 

25. Poor playgrounds 

26. Little chance for self-improvement 

27. So I could attend a church of my own 

denomination 

28. To be closer home 

29. Don't think a teacher should stay too 

long in one place 

30. Difficult to get laundering done 

31. To get a longer contract 

32. Had planned to quit teaching and when I 

decided to teach again my old school 
was taken 



29 
20 
36 




29 
20 
41 


9.7 

6.7 

13.7 




5 


45 


8 


53 


17.7 


34 


11 


45 


15.0 


43 


8 


51 


17.0 


25 


5 


30 


10.0 


13 


1 


14 


4.7 


88 


8 


96 


32.0 


21 


2 


23 


7.7 


40 


7 


47 


15.7 


66 


13 


79 


26.3 . 


28 


5 


33 


11.0 


55 


9 


64 


21.3 


101 


70 


171 


57.0 


28 


14 


42 


14.0 


6 
9 




6 
10 


2.0 
3.3 


1 


9 




9 


3.0 


37 

7 

26 




37 

7 

36 


12.3 

2.3 

12.0 




10 


32 


? 


34 


11.3 


53 
14 
69 




53 
14 
80 


17.7 

4.7 

26.7 




11 


5 
40 




5 
80 


1.7 
26.7 


40 


12 


6 


18 


6.0 


5 

27 




5 
28 


1.7 
9.3 


1 


7 


4 


11 


3.7 



2.1 
3.3 
4.6 
3.3 
2.1 

.4 
3.3 

.8 
2.9 
5.4 
2.1 
3.7 
29.0 
5.8 



A 



4.2 



4.6 

i<To" 

2.5 



.4 
1.7 



1 This per cent is figured with 299 as the base. 

2 This per cent is figured with 241 as the base. 



that five reasons were responsible for 55.8 per cent of the 
changes ; in the group of larger schools four reasons were 
found to be responsible for 56.8 per cent of the changes. 
"Better salary'" and "to be closer home" are the two rank- 
ing reasons in both. The other five reasons are not identi- 
cal in both groups. However, taking the seven reasons, it 
is seen that they are the principal causes to which more 
than 60 per cent of the changes in all rural schools are due. 



Rural Teachers in the South 57 

Number 33 in the questionnaire asked for any reason not 
mentioned. The following reasons were given by the teach- 
ers in the larger schools : 

Reasons Number Who Gave It 

Quit teaching to attend school 2 

Certificate expired, and I went back to my own state 1 

Changed with the principal 1 

Too many relatives in the school 1 

My school was eliminated 1 

To get a different grade 1 

To teach primary work 1 

School politics 2 

Stopped a while after marrying 1 

Desired a broader field of work 1 

I am a minister, and was changed to a different charge 1 

None of these reasons affected as many as 1 per cent of 
the teachers. The per cent of changes caused by any of 
these reasons is too small to be of importance. In fact, the 
per cent of changes that are due to all of them would be too 
small to demand much attention. 



A Comparison of Data Obtained from Teachers of 
One- and Two-Teacher Schools with Data Ob- 
tained from Teachers of the Larger Schools 

In both groups "better salary" was the cause of the 
greater per cent of changes. It caused a greater per cent 
of changes in the larger schools than in the smaller. This 
is likely due to the fact that more than 70 per cent of the 
teachers with nine months' college training are teaching in 
the larger schools. A study of the teachers who checked 
this reason show that: Of the teachers with less than 
eighteen months' high school training, 18.8 per cent of them 
checked "better salary" twice ; of the teachers who had had 
eighteen months' high school training, but were not high 
school graduates, 24.6 per cent checked it twice; of the 
teachers who are high school graduates, but have had less 
than nine months' college training, 28.1 per cent checked 
it twice ; of the teachers with nine months' college training 
or more, 29.6 per cent checked it twice. In other words, 
the better trained teachers are changing because they are 
getting better salaries. "To be closer home" ranks second 
in both groups; it causes a greater per cent of changes in 



58 



The Present Status of 



Per Cent of Changes Due to Each Reason, as Shown by Teachers' Double Checks (XX) 



Better salary 22.2 

19 

To be closer home ,, , 

16.6 

Too many classes to teach 9,5 

3.5 

Patrons took no interest in school. . . . (,,£ 

Term was too short t, 3 

3.7 

Little chance for self-improvement... 41 

■4.6 

Community gossip 



Planned 1 to quit teaching, and when I • 3 - 5 
decided to teach again, school taken 3^ 

1.7 

To get into a larger school 



2.6 

5.4 
To get into a graded school , , 

Children were hard to discipline 26 

2.1 
Difficult to get to school 

Too few agreeable companions 

2.1 
Irregular attendance 

Poor school building 2 

To get a longer contract 

Poor equipment for the school 2.2 

Factions in the school district 1 

4.6! 

Boarding place was unsatisfactory ... 14 

5^8 

Principal wasn't agreeable | 

4.2 

Too much exposure 1^1 

Don't think a teacher should stay too 

long in one place i.l 

2.5 
Work was too hard 

Poor playgrounds 

Boarding place was too far from 
school 7 

Had to do my own janitor work. . . 

Children were slow in learning. . . . 



Nothing to do Saturday and Sunday. . 

So I could attend a church of my 
own denomination 4 




«5% 



Teachers of one- and two-teacher school 
lTeachers of the larger schools 



Fiff. 5 



Rural Teachers in the South 59 

the larger schools than in the smaller schools. "Too many 
classes to teach" was checked twice by a much larger per 
cent of the teachers of one- and two-teacher schools than 
by teachers of the larger schools. It is not quite evident 
why this should be true, unless the teachers of the one- and 
two-teacher schools checked it for the reason why they 
want a change, rather than why they did change. It may 
be that the teachers who checked this reason went from 
a one-teacher to a two-teacher school ; this, of course, would 
decrease the number of classes. "Patrons took no interest 
in school" caused a higher per cent of changes in the 
smaller schools than in the larger schools. This probably 
indicates that the teachers of one- and two-teacher schools 
are poorer teachers than the teachers of the larger schools, 
and therefore have failed to arouse an interest in their pa- 
trons in regard to school work. It may also indicate that 
the patrons in isolated districts are not interested in 
schools. "Term was too short" was checked twice by a 
larger per cent in the smaller than in the larger schools. 
This tends to indicate that the larger schools have a longer 
and a more uniform term than the smaller schools. "To 
get into a larger school" was checked twice by a larger per 
cent in the larger schools than in the smaller. This is what 
would be expected when 71 per cent of the teachers in the 
larger schools went from a smaller to a larger school, and 
only 19 per cent of the teachers of one- and two-teacher 
schools went from a smaller to a larger school. "Factions 
in the school district" caused a larger per cent of changes 
in the larger schools than in the smaller ones. This prob- 
ably indicates that they left the smaller schools where there 
were factions and went to the larger ones where they found 
cooperation. "Boarding place was unsatisfactory" was 
checked twice by a larger per cent of the teachers in larger 
schools than in smaller schools. This indicates that it is 
not so difficult for one or two teachers to find suitable board- 
ing places in a school district ; but where there are several 
teachers employed in one school, provisions for boarding 
places should be made by the school authorities. An alto- 
gether different interpretation might be made of these re- 
sults. They may indicate that the teacher in one- and two- 
teacher schools is a type of teacher that is very easily 
pleased and has a lower standard of living than the teacher 
in the larger schools. However, a study of the teachers 
who checked "boarding place unsatisfactory" shows that 
educational qualifications seem to have nothing to do with 



60 The Present Status of 

it. Of the teachers with less than eighteen months' high 
school training, 3.3 per cent checked it twice ; of the teach- 
ers who had had eighteen months' high school training or 
more, but were not high school graduates, 4.6 per cent 
checked it twice ; of the teachers who are high school grad- 
uates, but have had less than nine months' college training, 
1.6 per cent checked it twice; of the teachers with nine 
months' college training or more, 3.2 per cent checked it 
twice. And it might be added that not a teacher with nine 
months' college training or more who was teaching in the 
one- and two-teacher schools checked it twice, all of which 
indicates that the former interpretation is likely the cor- 
rect one. "Principal wasn't agreeable" was checked twice 
by a larger per cent of teachers in the larger schools than 
in the smaller. A much larger per cent of the teachers in 
the larger schools are teaching under principals than are in 
the smaller schools. This would account for such a differ- 
ence. "Poor equipment for the school" was checked twice 
by a larger per cent in the smaller schools than in the 
larger, which indicates that the larger schools have better 
facilities than the smaller schools. None of the remaining 
reasons was checked twice by a very large per cent of the 
teachers, and therefore the variation could not be great, if 
a reason was not checked at all by one group. 

Conclusion 

The data obtained from rural teachers seem to justify the 
following conclusions: First, there are seven reasons 
which cause more than 60 per cent of the changes in the 
rural schools; second, "better salary" and "to be closer 
home" cause at least one-third of all the changes in the 
rural schools; third, the better trained teachers are af- 
fected more by better salary than the poorly trained teach- 
ers; fourth, it is more difficult for the teachers of larger 
schools to find suitable boarding places than it is for teach- 
ers of one- and two-teacher schools ; fifth, that the patrons 
of the smaller schools do not take as much interest in the 
school as do the patrons of the larger schools. 

A Comparative Study of the Reasons Checked Twice 

by the Teachers and the Principal Reasons 

Given by the County Superintendents 

Teachers of one- and two-teacher schools. This compar- 
ison can probably best be made by means of a graph. The 
graph tends to show the importance of each reason from 
the viewpoints of both the teachers and the county super- 



Rural Teachers in the South 



61 



intendents. Both give "better salary" as responsible for a 
greater per cent of the changes than any other one reason. 
The superintendents seem to stress it more than the teach- 
ers do. They gave it as the principal cause of 38.7 per cent 
of the changes, while only 22.2 per cent of the teachers 

TABLE 9. — Changes of Positions in One- and Two- Teacher Schools, According; to 
the Reasons Given by County Superintendents and the Teachers 



Reasons 



u cti to 

!> be u 

o. o v 

3 ~J3 









a, fi w 



<u 2 C 
° S 2 



P e 






a u > & 



13 Jd rt •« 



S3 22 w 

u 2 o) 






C rt 



« o > 






outto 



1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 
22. 
23. 
24. 
25. 
26. 
27. 

28. 
29. 

30. 
31. 
32. 



33. 
34. 
35. 
36. 
37. 



Difficult to get to school 

Nothing to do Saturday and Sunday 

Too few agreeable companions 

Community gossip 

Factions in the school district 

Patrons took no interest in school 

Children were hard to discipline 

Children were slow in learning 

Too many classes to teach 

Work was too hard 

To get into a graded school 

To get into a larger school 

Irregular attendance 

Term was too short 

Better salary 

Boarding place was unsatisfactory 

No place to entertain my friends 

Boarding place too far from school - 

Too much exposure , 

Had to do my own janitor wofk 

Community health conditions poor 

Principal wasn 't agreeable 

Poor school building 

Poor equipment for the school 

Poor playgrounds 

Little chance for self-impr)ovement 

So I could attend a church of my own 

denomination 

To be closer home 

Don't think a teacher should stay too 

long in one place 

Difficult to get laundering done 

To get a longer contract 

Had planned to quit teaching and when I 

decided to teach again my old school 

was taken 

To get away from home 

Changed by the County Superintendent. 

To be nearer town 

My school was consolidated 

Patrons didn't like him 



6 
2 
1 

72 



44 
2 



31 



1 
6 
9 

5 

18 

7 

1 

26 

3 

7 

7 

6 

17 

60 

4 



4 
6 
6 
3 
11 

1 

30 

3 
6 



.5 



2.6 
3.2 
1.1 

.5 
38.7 



23.7 
1.1 



6.4 
.5 



16.7 



2.6 
.4 
2.2 
3.3 
1.8 
6.6 
2.6 
.4 
9.6 
1.1 
2.6 
2.6 
2.2 
6.3 
22.2 
1.4 



.7 
1.4 

.7 



1.4 
2.2 
2.2 
1.1 
4.1 

.4 
11.1 

1.1 



2.2 



3.3 



checked it twice for the principal reason why they changed. 
Both agree on "to be closer home" being the second reason 
in importance. But again they differ as to the per cent of 
changes due to this reason. The superintendents rate it 
twice as high as the teachers; the superintendents gave it 
as the principal cause of 23.7 per cent of the changes, while 



62 The Present Status of 

only 11.1 per cent of the teachers checked it as the one rea- 
son that influenced them most to change the last time. 
Probably the next most striking thing to be seen in this 
graph is that there are a number of reasons that were 
checked by the teachers that county superintendents did 
not mention, or if they did, they gave them as the cause of a 
very small per cent of the changes. Just what this indi- 
cates would be hard to say. However, it tends to indicate 
that the county superintendents are not as familiar with 
the problems that are confronting their teachers as they 
should be. It may indicate that there are a number of 
changes made each year that could be avoided if the county 
superintendent had matters "well in hand" and knew ex- 
actly what was going on in the school districts. It may in- 
dicate that there is an urgent need of closer supervision in 
the rural schools — a need for a type of supervision that will 
make the work in the classroom more effective and will 
help the teacher create an interest among his patrons — an 
interest that will cause them to improve the school build- 
ing, purchase the necessary equipment, construct play- 
grounds and equip them, and provide suitable boarding 
places for the teacher. 

There were two reasons that were given by the county 
superintendents that the teachers did not give. Teachers 
would not be expected to check "patrons didn't like him;" 
therefore it was not put in the questionnaire. No doubt it 
is one of the principal causes of changes, but it could never 
be obtained through the teachers. When the patrons don't 
like a teacher, the county superintendent is one of the first 
to hear about it. He is notified on every hand and re- 
quested to remove the teacher and give them another. If 
the county superintendent does not know about some of the 
other reasons, he should be an authority on this one. The 
other reason, "changed by the county superintendent," is 
another that the teachers would not be likely to check, but 
it is certain that a county superintendent knows the teach- 
ers that he changed. No doubt these are two important 



Rural Teachers in the South 



63 



Per Cent of Changes in the One- and Two-Teacher Schools Due to Each Reason, as Shown by 
Teachers' Double Checks (XX), and the Principal Reasons Given by County Superintendents 



Better salary 

To be closer home , 

Too many classes to teach , 

Patrons took no interest in school, 



% 
22.1 
38.7 

U.I 
25.7 

°>.t> 
.5 

6.6 



Term was too short 6 3 

.5 
Little chance for self-improvement... 4( 



Community gossip 



3.3 



Planned to quit teaching, and when I 
decided to teach again, school taken 3.3 

3.8 
To get into a larger school 2fc 

3.2 
To get into a graded school 2 6 

2.6 
Children were hard to discipline 2.6 

Difficult to get a school 2 6 

Too few agreeable companions 2.2 

Irregular attendance 1.2 

11 
Poor school building 2.2 

To get a longer contract 2.2 

Poor equipment for the school 2.2 

Factions in the school district t.e 

.5 
Boarding place was unsatisfactory... 1,4 

Principal wasn't agreeable 1.4 

Too much exposure 1.4 

Don't think a teacher should stay too 

long in one place 1', 

Work was too hard 1.1 

Poor playgrounds 

Boarding place was too far from 

school 7 

Had to do my own janitor work 7 

Children were slow in learning 4 

Nothing to do Saturday and Sunday . . 4 

So I could attend a church of my 
own denomination 4 

Patrons didn't like him , 6 7 

Changed by the superintendent 64 

To be nearer town .5 




35% 



(Checked by the teachers 
^Given by the county superintendents 



Fig. 6 



64 



The Present Status of 



Per Cent of Changes in the Larger Schools Due to Each Reason, as Shown by Teachers' 
Double Checks (XX), and the Principal Reasons Given by County Superintendents 



Better salary 



To be closer home. 



Boarding place was unsatisfactory... 



To get into a larger school 

Factions in the school district 

Little chance for self-improvement . . 

Principal wasn't agreeable 

Term was too short 

Community gossip 

Too many classes to teach 

Patrons took no interest in school.. 



Z9.0 
28.7 

16.6 

28.7 

5.6 

5.4 

11-4 

4.6 
.8 

4.6 
4.2 
3.7 
3.3 
3.3 
33 
2.9 



To get into a graded school 

Don't think a teacher should stay too 'S- 6 

long in one place 2 5 

1.6 

Too few agreeable companions.... 

Children were hard to discipline.. 



2.1 

2.1 
Irregular attendance , ( 

Planned to quit teaching, and when I 
decided to teach again, school taken ( j 

3.3 

Poor school building 6 

.8 
Work was too hard g 

Children were slow in learning 4. 

Boarding place was too far from 
school ,4 



To get a longer contract .4 

Patrons didn't like him 5.7 

Changed by the superintendent 2.5 

To get away from home „ 

To give my children better opportu- 
nities .8 U 




Checked by the teachers 
3 Given by the county superintendents 



Fig. 7 



Rural Teachers in the South 65 

reasons why teachers in the one- and two-teacher schools 
change positions. 

Teachers in the larger schools. The data under this topic 
will also be compared by means of a graph. On the whole 
this graph presents about the same picture as the preceding 
graph. There doesn't seem to be as much difference in the 
opinions of county superintendents and teachers in regard 
to the cause of the changes, in this group, as there was in 
the other group. "Better salary" is given by both as causing 
practically the same per cent of changes. The county su- 
perintendents still attribute more changes due to "to be 
closer home" than the teachers do. They also gave "to get 
into a larger school" and "to get into a graded school" as 
important reasons, while only a small per cent of the teach- 
ers checked them twice. Here, as in the other group, there 
are a number of reasons checked by the teachers that were 
not given by the county superintendents, which again indi- 
cates that the county superintendent is not cognizant of all 
the problems that are confronting his teachers. Many of 
these teachers, no doubt, change from the one- and two- 
teacher schools to the larger schools, and these are the rea- 
sons. They went where they would get closer supervision, 
where the patrons took more interest, and where the neces- 
sary equipment for the school had been provided. In this 
group it is observed that there were fewer disliked by the 
patrons and a smaller number of changes made by the 
county superintendents than in the group of one- and two- 
teacher schools. The reasons given by the county super- 
intendents and the reasons checked twice by the teachers 
indicate that the county superintendents are better in- 
formed about what is going on in the larger schools than 
they are in regard to what is happening in the one- and two- 
teacher schools. 



66 



The Present Status of 



TABL.E 10. — Changes of Positions in Rural Schools Employing More Than Two 
Teachers, According to Reasons Given by County Super- 
intendents and the Teachers 



Reasons 



C +J CM (U 

tn -* £ 

-, >•■ en « 

.£ C tn X S 
C > c. ri £ 



.5 « 



1, ~ 






u <u c 

W 4) - 

fern 1 - >" 

t> S « rt = 

r; J3 c6 +j O 

r^ O 4) o) o 



Oj£cS 

c & s 

O cq O 

u v 

fc w u 

« a o 

- j O 41 



S-9 
5 

2 « S 



9. 
10. 
11. 

12. 

13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 
22. 
23. 
24. 
25. 
26. 
27. 

28. 
29. 

30. 
31. 
32. 



33. 
34. 
35. 
36. 
37. 



Difficult to get to school 

Nothing to do Saturday and Sunday 

Too few agreeable companions 

Community gossip 

Factions in the school district 

Patrons took no interest in school 

Children were hard to discipline 

Children were slow in learning 

Too many classes to teach 

Work was too hard 

To get into a graded school 

To get into a larger school 

Irregular attendance 

Term was too short 

Better salary 

Boarding place was unsatisfactory 

No place to entertain my friends 

Boarding place too far from school 

Too much exposure 

Had to do my own janitor work 

Community health conditions poor 

Principal wasn't agreeable 

Poor school building 

Poor equipment for the school 

Poor playgrounds 

Little chance for self-improvement 

So I could attend a church of my own 

denomination 

To be closer home 

Don't think a teacher should stay too 

long in one place 

Difficult to get laundering done 

To get a longer contract 

Had planned to quit teaching and when I 

decided to teach again my old school 

was taken 

To get away from home 

Changed by the County Superintendent - 

To be nearer town 

Patrons didn't like him 

Give my children a better opportunity.. 



19 

14 



35 



35 
2 



13 

5 
9 

70 

14 



11 



40 

6 



11 



15.6 
11.4 



28.7 



28.7 
1.6 



3.3 

.8 
2.5 



2.1 
3.3 
4.6 
3.3 
2.1 

.4 
3.3 

.8 
2.9 
5.4 
2.1 
3.7 
29.0 
5.8 



4.2 



4.6 



16.6 
2.5 



.4 
1.7 



Rural Teachers in the South 



67 



Rural teachers as a whole. This graph shows at a glance 
to what the county superintendents attribute the changes 
in the rural schools. In their opinion, over 95 per cent of 
the changes are due to seven reasons. It is interesting to 

tw r^Tit nf Chances in All Rural Schools Due to Each Reason, as Shown by Teachers' 
Double Checks (XX), and the Principal Reasons Given by County Superintendents 



Better salary 



25.4 
S4.6 

iS.fe 
i5.6 

6.6 
.3 

5.1 

.3 

5.1 



To be closer home 

Too many classes to teach 

Term was too short 

Patrons took no interest in school.. 
Little chance for self-improvement. . 45 

To get into a larger school 40 

Planned to quit teaching, and when I 6.5 
decided to teach again, school taken 4.0 

Boarding place was unsatisfactory... 35 

Irregular attendance 

Community gossip 

Factions in the school district.... 

To get into a graded school 

Principal wasn't agreeable 

Children were hard to discipline.. 




Too few agreeable companions 

Don't think a teacher should stay too 
long in one place 

Poor school building 

Difficult to get a school 



To get a longer contract 

Poor equipment for the school 

Work was too hard 

Too much exposure 

Boarding place too far from school.. 

Poor playgrounds 

Children were slow in learning 

Had to do my own janitor work 

Nothing to do Saturday and Sunday. . 

So I could attend a church of my 

own denomination 

Patrons didn't like him 

Changed by the county superintendent 

To get away from home 

To be nearer town 

Give my children better educational 
opportunities 



1.3 
1.2.1 
1.0 | 
.6 

.6 

■*> 

A 
.4 
Z 
.1 



12.5 
3.1 
.3D 
.3 

.J 



2.3 
2.1 
(.7 
1.5 



1 
P 



¥ 



35% 
] 



I Checked by the teachers 

3 Given by the county superintendents 



Fig. 8 



68 



The Present Status of 



note that only one of these seven reasons is ranked as high 
by the teachers as by the county superintendents. "Had 
planned to quit teaching, and when I decided to teach again, 
my old school was taken" was checked twice by 4 per cent 
of the teachers, and it was given by the county superin- 

TABLE 11. — Changes of Positions in All Rural Schools, According to Reasons 
Given by County Superintendents and Teachers 



Reasons 



£.5g 



> g- o 



O •*-! >- J3 

m £> OS O 

rs 3 Mrs 

V O D O 



C «J2 
4) S D 



° * ci S 
CO e: « >> 

O 03 j; ° G 



5 3 s a c 
y >>_ to y 



CO 



O »i 

t/1 "^ 



c3 <u ^T! 



1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 
14. 
15. 
16. 
17. 
18. 
19. 
20. 
21. 
22. 
23. 
24. 
25. 
26. 
27. 

28. 
29. 

30. 
31. 
32. 



33. 
34. 
35. 
36. 
37. 



Difficult to get to school 

Nothing to do Saturday and Sunday 

Too few agreeable companions 

Community gossip 

Factions in the school district 

PatrOns took no interest in school 

Children were hard to discipline 

Children were slow in learning 

Too many classes to teach 

Work was too hard 

To get into a graded school 

To get into a larger school 

Irregular attendance 

Term was too short 

B ett er salary 

Boarding place was unsatisfactory 

No place to entertain my friends 

Boarding place too far from school 

Too much exposure 

Had to do my own janitor work 

Community health conditions poor 

Principal wasn't agreeable 

Poor school building 

Poor equipment for the school 

Poor playgrounds 

Little chance for self-improvement 

So I could attend a church of my own 

denomination 

To be closer home 

Don't think a teacher should stay too 

long in one place 

Difficult to get laundering done 

To get a longer contract 

Had planned to quit teaching and when I 

decided to teach again my old school 

was taken 

To get away from home 

Changed by County Superintendent . 

To be nearer town 

Patrons didn't like him_- 

Give my children better opportunities. -- 



Total. 



24 

20 

2 

1 

107 



79 
4 



11 
1 

16 
1 

38 
1 



309 



1 
11 
17 
16 
26 
12 

2 
34 

5 

14 
20 
11 
26 
130 
18 



14 

8 

6 

3 

22 

1 
70 

9 
~j- 

20 



3.0 



512 



7.8 

6.5 

.6 

.3 

34.6 



25.6 
1.3 



3.5 
.3 

5.1 

.3 

12.3 

.3 



1.3 
.2 
2.1 
3.3 
3.1 
5.1 
2.3 
.4 
6.6 
1.0 
2.7 
4.0 
3.3 
5.1 
25.4 
3.5 



2.7 
1.5 
1.2 
.6 
4.3 

.2 
15.6 

1.7 

"i'.y 

4.0 



tendents as causing 3.5 per cent of the changes. This 
graph, like the two preceding, shows a number of reasons 
that were checked by teachers that the county superintend- 
ents did not mention, which further indicates that there is 
an urgent need of closer supervision in the rural schools. 



Rural Teachers in the South 69 

These graphs indicate that the county superintendents re- 
alize the outstanding causes of changes among rural teach- 
ers, but they do not know that a large per cent of the 
changes are due to other causes. One may not be justified 
in stating that the lack of close supervision in the rural 
schools is the fundamental cause of so many changes, but 
he is justified in stating that the county superintendents do 
not know all the reasons that are causing teachers to change. 
However, the data indicate that they know the three out- 
standing reasons : "better salary," "to be closer home," and 
"patrons didn't like him." 

A Comparative Study of the Reasons Given by Six 

County Superintendents Why Sixty-Eight Rural 

Teachers Changed Positions the Last Time, 

and the Reasons Checked by These 

Sixty-Eight Teachers 

It was stated in a former topic of this chapter that data 
were obtained from six county superintendents in regard 
to why 309 rural teachers changed the last time. It was 
also stated that questionnaires were sent to every teacher 
in the counties superintended by these six superintendents. 
Replies were received from 68 of the 309 teachers of whom 
the superintendents had given data relative to their last 
changes. More than 68 replies were received from these 
six counties, but only 68 of the 309 replied. From Ala- 
bama, 14 replies were received ; from Arkansas, 9 ; from 
Mississippi, 12 ; from Missouri, 19 ; and from Tennessee, 14. 

The following table shows each individual teacher, the 
reasons he checked why he changed position the last time, 
and the reasons given by the county superintendent why 
each teacher changed. It is an interesting study to com- 
pare these results and see how they agree. In 17, or 25 
per cent, of the cases the reason that was given by the 
county superintendent as the principal reason was checked 
twice by the teacher; in 14, or 20.6 per cent, of the cases 
the reason given by the county superintendent as the princi- 
pal reason was checked only once by the teacher; in 2, or 
2.9 per cent, of the cases the reason given by the county 
superintendent as a secondary reason was checked twice 
by the teacher; and in 4, or 5.9 per cent, of the cases the 
reason given by the county superintendent as a secondary 
reason was checked once by the teacher, indicating that it 
was a secondary reason. These data may be interpreted as 
follows: In 25 per cent of the cases the county superin- 
tendent gave the correct reason for the changes; in 20.6 



70 The Present Status of 

TABLE 12. — Why Sixty-Eight Rural Teachers Changed Positions 



Teacher 


Reasons checked by teachers 


Reasons given by county supts. 




X 


XX 


X 


XX 


1 


2-12-13-15. 


26 
2 

16 
28 
5 
28 
15 




11 


2 


1-6-9-25. 




12 


3 


4-9-18-28 




34i 


4 


1-12-16-19. _ ----. 




28 


5 


1-12-27-32. 




34 


6 


11-12-23-24 




11 


7 






15 


8 


1-7-15.-. 




28 


9 


3-9-12-29 


26 
1 
14 
6 
15 
29 
28 
32 
14 
15 

29 
32 
15 
15 
23 
12 
15 
29 
4 
15 




12 


10 


15-20-29-30 




28 


11 


4-15-31 


2 33-34 1 


11 


12 


2-3- 20-27.. 




15 


13 


11-14-28-31 




28 


14 


9-15-19-28. 




28 


15 


1-3-20-26. . .1 

14-15-18-20 . 


6-332.- 


15 


16 




33 


17 


4-6-9-11. 




9 


18 


20-23-24-25 


6-16. 


15 


19 


12-19-27-28-31. 


332 . 


34i 


20 


14-15-23-28 


12-28 . -- 


15 


21 




32 


22 


9-11-23-28 


28--. ... . 


15 


23 


4-5-21-26 




15 


24 


5-6-9-15. 


15 


33 1 


25 


1-18-19-28 




16 


26 


4-5-9-25. 




21 


27 


9-15-19-28. . . 




28 


28 


3-15-24-26. 




5 


29 


9-12-14-26. .. 




15 


30 


6-7-9-13-15 . 


15. . . 


28 


31 


3-5-6-22.. _ 






34i 


32 


3-15-29-32. 


26 

9 

9 

6 

15 

15 

28 

15 

4 

26 

15 

15 




15 


33 


13-15-24. 




15 


34 


1-15-23-24. 




28 


35 


5-6-9-15-24 




29 


36 


1-2-19-20 . 




15 


37 


4-20-23-28 . 




15 


38 


1-9-10-29 




15 


39 


11-12-23-24 . . 




15 


40 


5-14-15-29. . . 




15 


41 


13-15-31. • 




15 


42 


19-23-24-26 




15 


43 


3-4-20-23. 




33 2 


44 


28-29 




15 


45 


9-18-20-24. 


15 
15 
28 
24 




28 


46 


1-14-18-20. 




15 


47 


1-16-18 . 




28 


48 


5-6-13-14 




15 


49 


5-9-11-15 




28 


50 


9-11-18-26-. .. .. 






28 


51 


9-12-15-23-24 




11. 


15 


52 




28 

15 

28 

15 

4 

7 

5 

7 

15 




28 


53 


4-9-10-32 


11. 


15 


54 




28. 


15 


55 


9-11. . . ... 




32 


56 


3-16-21-22. . 




33 2 


57 


1-5-6-26. . .. .- 




33 2 


58 


4-9-12-28 




32 


59 


9-19-23-29. 




33" 


60 


6-9-26-31 .. 




332 


61 


6-9-13-20-24 . _- . 




28 


62 


1-14-26-31. . . 


6 
7 
15 
15 
32 
23 
28 


15 . . 


14 


63 


3-4-6-8.- 




28 


64 


8-9-12-26 


15-29 .- 


12 


65 


14-31 

6-9-14-15 


1-3-6 . 


15 


66 




28 


67 


2-19-25-26 




28 


68 






28 



2 33 patrons didn't like him. 

1 3'4 changed by county superintendent. 



Rural Teachers in the South 71 

per cent of the cases the county superintendent gave a sec- 
ondary reason as the principal reason; in 2.9 per cent of 
the cases the county superintendent gave the principal rea- 
son as a secondary reason ; and in 5.9 per cent of the cases 
the county superintendent gave the same secondary reason 
that the teacher gave. The results indicate that the county 
superintendent knew something about 54 per cent of the 
changes of which he claimed to know; that in 46 per cent 
of the changes of which the county superintendent pro- 
fessed to know, he did not give a single reason that corre- 
sponded to the reasons checked by the teacher. It has 
been stated before that there were a number of changes 
that the superintendent did not know the reason for. These 
data indicate that about 46 per cent of the reasons he gave 
are wrong. However, there are certain outstanding rea- 
sons on which both the superintendents and the teachers 
agree. 



72 



The Present Status of 



Nine of the 68 teachers did not check one reason twice. 
The graph presents the reasons checked twice by 59 of 
these 68 teachers, and also the principal reasons given by 
the county superintendents why these 59 teachers changed 
positions the last time. It gives a concise presentation of 
the importance of each reason from the viewpoint of both 
the superintendents and the teachers. It is observed that 
both agree that "better salary" and "to be closer home" 
are the two reasons to which most of the changes are due, 
so far as individual reasons are concerned. 



Reasons Why Rfty-Nine Teachers Changed Positions, as Shown by Teachers' Double 
Checks (XX), and the Principal Reasons Given by County Superintendents 

No ■ '? f Z0 

Better salary 19 

To be closer home 8 

13 
Little chance for self-improvement... , 

Planned to quit teaching, and when I 
decided to teach again, school taken 3 

Don't think a teacher should stay too 
long in one place 3 

Patrons took no interest in school. • • • 3 

Community gossip 3 

Children were hard to discipline 3 

Factions in the school district 2 

l 
Term was too short 

Too many classes to teach , 

1 
Poor school building 2. 

Boarding place was unsatisfactory... ? 

Nothing to do Saturday and Sunday. 

To get into a larger school 

Difficult to get a school 

Poor equipment for the school 



Patrons didn't like him.... 
To get into a graded school. 



Changed by the county superintendent^ 

Community health conditions unde- 
sirable I 




I Checked by the teachers 
-J Given by the county superintendents 



Fig. 9 



Rural Teachers in the South 73 

There are reasons that the teachers checked that the 
county superintendents did not give. From the number 
that checked them, they must be of some importance. 
There are three reasons that the county superintendents 
gave that the teachers did not. Two of them, "patrons 
didn't like him" and "changed by the county superintend- 
ent/' the teachers would not be expected to give. It is 
likely that the county superintendent knew exactly what he 
was talking about when he gave these two reasons. 

This comparison presents a graph that is very similar to 
the three graphs presented in the preceding comparisons, 
and tends to justify the conclusions that were drawn in the 
preceding comparisons. 

Summary 

The data presented in this chapter seem to warrant the 
following summary: 

1. There are three outstanding reasons why rural teach- 
ers change positions ; namely, "better salary," "to be closer 
home," and "patrons didn't like him." 

2. The better qualified and more experienced teachers 
are found in the larger schools, and when teachers who are 
well qualified go to the one- and two-teacher schools, they 
soon change to larger schools. 

3. "Better salary" affects the better trained teachers 
more than it does the poorly trained teachers. 

4. The better trained a teacher is, the greater the prob- 
ability of an unstable tenure in one position. 

5. Changes made by rural teachers are more frequently 
due to their volition than to incompetency, or lack of suc- 
cess. 

6. Three times as many teachers were failures and dis- 
liked by the patrons of one- and two-teacher schools as were 
failures and disliked by patrons of the larger schools. 

7. The patrons of the smaller schools do not take as much 
interest in the school as do the patrons of the larger schools. 

8. Suitable boarding places are more difficult to secure 
where there are several teachers in the school than where 
there are only one or two. 

9. County superintendents and teachers agree that "bet- 
ter salary" and "to be closer home" are the outstanding rea- 
sons why teachers in the rural schools change positions. 

10. County superintendents do not know why all of their 
teachers change positions ; and in 46 per cent of the changes 
about which they claim to know, their reasons did not agree 
with the reasons given by the teachers. 



74 The Present Status of 

11. County superintendents do not know all the problems 
with which their teachers have to deal. 

12. There are some causes to which changes are due that 
the teachers did not give. "Patrons didn't like him" and 
"changed by the county superintendent" are two. 

13. County superintendents seem to put too much stress 
on one or two of the most important reasons to the neglect 
of several minor reasons. 



CHAPTER IV 

CONCLUSION 

The Evil Effects of Frequent Changes 

A number of prominent educators have been attracted 
by frequent changes of teachers. The following excerpts 
express very concisely their attitude toward changes : 

"Thinking people will see that if rural teachers are to 
exert a real influence in the community where they teach 
and become a blessing to the farm child and the farm home, 
this pernicious practice of changing positions every year 
must end." 

(Foght, H. W. — The American Rural School, pp. 114, 115.) 

"So long as teachers continue to be peripatetics, the best 
results in community leadership cannot be expected." 

(Foght, H. W. — The Rural Teacher and His Work, p. 96.) 

"The annual determination of teachers' contracts in- 
volves a great waste of nervous energy on the part of both 
teachers and school authorities, and is wholly unnecessary 
from the standpoint of the efficiency of the school." 

(E. P. C. — Tenure of Teachers, Cyclopedia of Education, pp. 564, 565.) 

"The average rural teacher is an itinerant public servant, 
roving from place to place in search of better pastures and 
seldom remaining long enough in one position to stamp his 
personality upon the community or leave a lasting impres- 
sion." 

(Arp — Rural Education and the Consolidated School, pp. 145.) 

"The teacher, when elected, has no assurance that he will 
be able to remain in the position for more than one school 
year. He is therefore less inclined to make any plans 
which cannot be carried to completion during one term. 
The result is that a great many teachers never make any 
plans for the permanent improvement of the school grounds. 
When a teacher has adopted a plan of procedure, a change 
of teachers before the plan is fully carried out is likely to 
result in abandonment of the plan by the new teacher." 

(Wilkinson — Rural School Management, p. 117.) 

"No constructive scheme of education can be successfully 
carried out with teachers as leaders who stay less than 



76 The Present Status of 

two years at one place and who have had less than four 
years' experience." 

Burkholder, A. C. — Rural Schools of Hayes County, Texas, Normal School Bul- 
letin, 7, February, 1918, pp. 23, 24.) 

"At the age when the journalist, the physician, the cler- 
gyman, the lawyer are casting about for a place in which to 
begin their life's work, the school teacher has taught her 
first, second, or third term and dropped out of the school 
business." 

(Lillibridge, C. W. — Broader Preparation and Greater Permanency, Pennsyl- 
vania School Journal, February, 1917, p. 376.) 

"Is it not obvious that so long as the rural-school teach- 
ers are here to-day and there to-morrow, they can never 
become, in any true sense, the citizen makers of the na- 
tion?" 

(Eggleston and Bruere — The Work of the Rural School, pp. 193-195.) 

"It makes the teacher feel that he, or she, is a sort of a 
temporary fixture. Under such conditions, few are the 
teachers that can make plans for progressively efficient 
teaching work, and fewer are those who are willing to un- 
dertake to do so." 

Mead — The Improvement of the Teaching Staff of Rural Schools, The Ohio 
Teacher, January, 1918, pp. 251, 252.) 

"The frequent change of teachers is a distinct disadvan- 
tage to any school. The superiority of city schools over 
those in the rural districts is due in part, at least, to the 
longer tenure of city teachers. 

"If the employer knows that he is making a contract for 
a term of some length, say not less than two or three years, 
he will exercise greater precaution in the original selection 
and will naturally endeavor to secure a teacher whose qual- 
ifications are unquestioned. On the other hand, a teacher 
otherwise well qualified, who has become acquainted in a 
community and has gained the confidence of pupils and 
patrons, is capable of giving service immeasurably more 
valuable than one who must make frequent readjustments. 
The anxiety with reference to reemployment, often felt 
most keenly by the most competent and acceptable teach- 
ers, is a serious hindrance to enthusiastic and whole-hearted 
effort. The most disastrous results of short-term employ- 
ment are suffered by the pupils, whose progress is unneces- 
sarily retarded by too frequent change of teachers." 

(Ross, W. D. — Teachers' Tenure, Twentieth Biennial Report of the State 
Superintendent of Public Instruction in Kansas, p. 94.) 



Rural Teachers in the South 77 

In 1916 Superintendent Walter H. Young, of St. Johns- 
bury, Massachusetts, made a study of the opinions of school 
men in regard to the evil effects of frequent changes among 
teachers. He sent out fifty questionnaires and received 
twenty-nine replies. Twenty-five of the questionnaires 
were sent to district and village superintendents and 
twenty-five were sent to high school principals. The fol- 
lowing excerpts will give an idea of the nature of the in- 
quiry and the opinions of the twenty-nine school men : 

"Do the schools gain or lose, in your opinion, from fre- 
quent changes in management? How?" 1 

"New teachers need time to get adjusted to new work, 
and the pupils to new teachers. This means delay in school 
work." 1 

"There should be a long period of steady influence after 
the readjustment, if pupils and teachers take the system 
and devote their energies to the weightier matters of the 
spirit." 1 

"Continuity of any good policy is impossible." 1 

"The spirit of permanency with reference to method and 
management is destroyed, and pupils and teachers are never 
certain as what to expect." 1 

"Lose, because we lack uniformity, and each principal is 
likely to have some theory to work out." 1 

"There is a loss in the momentum of any good policy. 
The educational machinery does not run at its former 
speed. Further, 'there is no chance for tradition to grow, 
or atmosphere.' " x 

"Not only must a teacher adjust himself to his school, 
but he must establish himself in the minds of the people. 
His coming disturbs the community as well as the pupils; 
for patrons are interested, and do not know what to expect 
of the new man. In order to succeed, one must not only 
know local conditions, but he must also have the confidence 
of the great part of the community." 1 

"A new principal is not acquainted with the students, 
and cannot therefore plan work for the individual stu- 
dents." 1 

"A new teacher wastes considerable time through lack of 
familiarity with the machinery of the school and with the 
pupils and with local conditions." 1 

"In general, frequent changes engender a superficial 
time-serving set of workers." 1 

"Lack of prestige with the pupils and the public." 1 

"If stable tenure of office were assured, the teaching pro- 
fession would stand higher as a profession. As long as 



1 Journal of Education, 84, September 7, 1916, pp. 202-205.) 



78 The Present Status of 

teachers are birds of passage there cannot be that respect 
for the profession there should be." 1 

"Unstable tenure keeps a man in more or less nervous 
state, not conducive to good work. On the other hand, sta- 
bility of tenure must be dependent upon good work, other- 
wise dry rot." 1 

"Tendency toward shifting, with home not in any one 
place, or place of work. I believe teachers could do better 
work if they became part of the community in which they 
live rather than an adjunct." 1 

"Unstable tenure keeps men out of the teaching profes- 
sion, it drives men out who are already teaching, and it 
creates unrest and dissatisfaction within the ranks of the 
teaching force." 1 

"The greatest disadvantage, in my opinion, is the distrac- 
tion which results in many places as a result of the annual 
election system. Thought centers upon how to hold one's 
position rather than how to be most useful to the school." 1 
"It keeps a man uneasy in mind and so can't use it 
freely." 1 

"He is all the time looking for another place." 1 
These statements might be summarized as follows : 
Frequent changes of position cause a loss to the pupils, a 
loss to the community, and a loss to the teacher. When a 
change is made, the new teacher cannot take up things 
where his predecessor left off and continue with the same 
momentum. He must have time to become acquainted 
with the pupils and learn their individual needs before 
he can direct them most intelligently. This loss of time 
means retardation to the pupils. In the rural schools 
where the school term is about five months, the teacher just 
has time to get things "well in hand" preparatory to do- 
ing effective work when the school closes. Not only is there 
a loss in regard to completing the course of study, but the 
boys and girls do not have other advantages that tenure 
tends to bring to a school. A teacher who knows that he 
is likely to be in his present position only five months is not 
likely to be very enthusiastic, and exert himself very much 
to get the floors oiled, to secure comfortable desks, to secure 
good blackboards, to get the building remodeled so the light 
will enter from only one side, to get additions to the build- 
ing for the purpose of introducing manual training and do- 
mestic science, to get attractive pictures on the walls, to 
secure a library, to get the house painted, to make the 

1 Journal of Education, 84, September 7, 1916, pp. 202-205.) 



Rural Teachers in the South 79 

grounds attractive and sanitary, to get sanitary outhouses, 
with some privacy, to secure ample suitable playgrounds 
and proper equipment for them, to organize athletic teams 
and coach them, to organize literary societies and direct 
them, and to organize boys' clubs and girls' clubs. As a 
consequence, the pupils are deprived of those things which 
rightfully belong to them ; things which tend to make school 
life a pleasure; things which are essential for the whole- 
some training of American boys and girls. Frequent 
changes by teachers are flagrant impositions upon the boys 
and girls of the rural section. 

There is a loss to the community. A person who remains 
in a community for only five months, and during that time 
has from twenty to thirty classes to teach per day, cannot 
familiarize himself with conditions and the needs of the 
community to the extent that he can launch and develop 
some real constructive project. If a teacher was inclined 
to do such things, he could not, for it takes time to gain 
the confidence of rural people, cause them to realize their 
needs, and induce them to enter into cooperative organiza- 
tions to further their own interests. Rural people are in- 
clined to be conservative and suspicious of strangers. Each 
individual thinks he can "drive" a better bargain than his 
neighbor, or some outsider. Most farmers think they know 
more about their community than the little rural teacher 
who has just come in for a session, and the sad thing about 
it is that in most cases the farmers are correct. Before 
the teacher has time to familiarize himself with conditions 
and offer some constructive plans that display real leader- 
ship, he has taught his five months and gone. A teacher 
who changes from community to community each year will 
not likely become interested in the people of any one com- 
munity and the work they are doing. He will rarely be- 
come a leader in any community. 

Last, frequent changes mean a loss to the teacher. He 
does not remain in one place long enough to show his true 
worth. If he has a progressive idea, he does not stay in 
one place long enough to develop it. Frequent changes do 
not make for constructive work which shows the real lead- 
ership of a teacher. They tend to create a spirit of unrest 
in teachers, which is not conducive to the best teaching. 
They make teachers temporary and not fixtures in the com- 
munity. They tend to rob the profession of its dignity, 
and, finally, they tend to drive the teacher out of the pro- 
fession. 



80 The Present Status of 

Some Suggestions Which May Tend to Reduce 
the Number of Changes 

These six suggestions may be helpful in trying to reduce 
the number of changes in rural schools : 

1. Better salary. 

2. Consolidation. 

3. Teachers' homes. 

4. A longer school term. 

5. Longer contracts for teachers. 

6. Compulsory attendance laws that will function. 

It has been pointed out that "better salary" is the out- 
standing reason why teachers change positions. Over 56 
per cent of the teachers checked it, and 25.4 per cent of 
them checked it twice. The following excerpt may contain 
a suggestive plan for eliminating this cause : 

"Salaries should be increased enough so that a teacher 
with a family may live on his income without worrying 
how to make ends meet. Provisions should be made, by 
legal enactment, for a liberal sliding-scale salary, allowing 
the teacher's salary to increase in direct ratio to length of 
service in the same community. This is only fair, since 
teachers of the right sort will unquestionably grow in value 
to the community year by year." 

(Foght, H. W. — United States Bureau of Education, Bulletin, 1914, No. 49, 
p. 29.) 

Consolidation will tend to eliminate the following rea- 
sons: 

1. Patrons took no interest in school. 

2. The children were hard to discipline. 

3. Too many classes to teach. 

4. Work was too hard. 

5. To get into a graded school. 

6. To get into a larger school. 

7. Had to do my own janitor work. . 

8. Poor school building. 

9. Poor equipment for the school. 

10. Poor playgrounds. 

11. Little chance for self-improvement. 

These reasons were checked twice by 29.7 per cent of the 
teachers. The per cent that checked each reason vary from 
.4 to 6.6. Thus it is seen that consolidation will tend to 
eliminate practically one-third of all the changes made by 
rural teachers. 

When consolidations are effected, teachers' homes should 
be provided. This will tend to eliminate four reasons 
checked twice by 6.2 per cent of the teachers: 



Rural Teachers in the South 81 

1. Difficult to get to school. 

2. Boarding place was unsatisfactory. 

3. Boarding place was too far from school. 

4. Too much exposure. 

If the teachers' home is built near the school, it will 
eliminate the difficulty of getting to school on cold, disa- 
greeable mornings, and will also save the teacher from ex- 
posure during inclement weather in the winter months. 

A longer term will tend to eliminate "term was too 
short." This reason was checked by 5.1 per cent of the 
teachers as the principal reason why they changed the last 
time. A longer term will also increase the yearly salary, 
thus aiding in the elimination of the outstanding cause of 
changes. 

Longer contracts would tend to eliminate "to get a longer 
contract," which was checked twice by 1.3 per cent of the 
teachers. If teachers contracted for two, three, or five 
years, both they and the school boards would be inclined to 
exercise greater precaution before contracting. This would 
tend to decrease the number of misfits, which would tend to 
decrease the number of changes due to "patrons didn't like 
him" and "changed by the county superintendent." 

A compulsory attendance law that is effective will insure 
a regular attendance, which will tend to eliminate' retarda- 
tion in the rural schools. It will also tend to eliminate "ir- 
regular attendance," which was checked by 3.3 per cent of 
the teachers as the principal reason why they changed. 
■ The data presented in this study seem to warrant the 
statement that the execution of these six suggestions will 
tend to eliminate 71 per cent of the changes made by teach- 
ers in the rural schools. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

Rural Teachers' Experience 

Arp, Julius Bernhard — Rural Education and the Consolidated School. 

Burkholder, A. C. — The Rural Schools of Hays County, Texas — Nor- 
mal School Bulletin, 7, February, 1918. 

Coffman, L. D. — Social Composition of the Teaching Profession. 

Davis, E. E. — A Study of Rural Schools in Travis County, Texas- 
University of Texas Bulletin, No. 67, December 1, 1916. 

Duke, E. A. — A Guide to Better Schools. 

Cubberley, E. P. — Rural Life and Education. 

Eggleston and Bruere — The Work of the Rural School. 

Foght, H. W. — American Rural Schools. 

Foght, H. W.— The Rural Teacher and His Work. 

Lillibridge, C. W. — Pennsylvania School Journal, February, 1917. 

Mead, A. R. — Improvement of the Teaching Staff of Rural Schools — 
Ohio Teacher, 38, January, 1918. 

Monahan, A. C. — United States Bureau of Education, Bulletin, 1913, 
No. 8, The Status of Rural Education in the United States. 



82 The Present Status of 

Parkinson, W. D. — Teachers' Tenure — Journal of Education, Volume 

79, No. 5, 1914. 
Shambaugh, Frank E. — Broader Preparation and Greater Perma- 
nency in the Rural Teaching Force — Pennsylvania School Journal, 
65, February, 1917. 
Tate, W. K. — Tenure of Position in the Rural Schools of South Car- 
olina — Suggested Solutions for Some Rural School Problems in 
South Carolina — Bulletin of the University of South Carolina, No. 
28, Part 6. 
Wilkinson, William A. — Rural School Management. 
Yowberg, A. G. — The Appointment, Salary, and Tenure of Teachers — 

National Educational Association, 1915. 
Surveys: An Educational Survey of Three Counties in Alabama. 
A Rural Survey of Tulane County, California. 
A Rural Life Survey of Greene and Clemont Counties, Ohio. 
A Rural Survey in Maryland. 
The Educational System of South Dakota — United States 

Bureau of Education, Bulletin, 1918, No. 31. 
Educational Survey of Wyoming — United States Bureau of 

Education, Bulletin, 1916, No. 29. 
Preliminary Report of Conditions and Needs of Rural 
Schools in Wisconsin, August, 1912. 
State Superintendents' Reports. 

Tenure in Present Position 

Arp, Julius Bernhard — Rural Education and the Consolidated School. 

Burkholder, A. C. — Texas School Bulletin, 7, February, 1918. 

Davis, E. E. — University of Texas Bulletin, No. 67, December 1, 1916. 

Duke, E. A. — A Guide to Better Schools. 

Eggleston and Bruere — The Work of the Rural School. 

Lillibridge, C. W. — Pennsylvania School Journal, February, 1917. 

Monahan, A. C. — United States Bureau of Education, Bulletin, 1913, 

No. 8. 
Shambaugh, Frank E. — Pennsylvania School Journal, 65, February, 

1917. 
Tate, W. K. — Bulletin of the University of South Carolina, No. 28, 

Part 6. 
Surveys: An Educational Survey of Three Counties in Alabama. 

A Rural Survey of Tulane County, California. 

A Rural Life Survey of Greene and Clemont Counties, Ohio. 

A Rural Survey in Maryland. 

The Educational System of South Dakota. 

Educational Survey of Wyoming. 

Preliminary Report of Conditions and Needs of Rural 
Schools in Wisconsin. 
State Superintendents' Reports. 

Why Teachers Leave the Rural Schools, and the Effects 
of Frequent Changes 

Arp — Rural Education and the Consolidated School. 

Betts — New Ideals in Rural Schools. 

Betts and Hall — The Better Rural School. 

Burkholder, A. C. — Texas Normal School Bulletin, 7, February, 1918. 

Carney, Mabel — Country Life and the Country School. 

Cubberley, E. P. — The Improvement of Rural Schools. 

Cubberley, E. P. — Rural Life and Education. 

Cubberley, E. P. — Cyclopedia of Education — Teachers' Tenure. 



Rural Teachers in the South 83 

Culter and Stone — The Rural School — Its Methods and Management. 

Davis, E. E. — University of Texas Bulletin, No. 67, December 1, 1916. 

Dresslar, Fletcher B. — Rural Schoolhouses and Grounds. 

Duke, E. A. — A Guide to Better Schools. 

Eggleston and Bruere — The Work of the Rural School. 

Foght, H. W. — American Rural Schools. 

Foght, H. W.— The Rural Teacher and His Work. 

Flemington, Mary B. — The Teachers' Boarding Place — School Board 

Journal, 50, p. 18. 
Lillibridge, C. W. — Pennsylvania School Journal, February, 1917. 
Mead, A. R.— Ohio Teacher, 38, January, 1918. 
Ross, W. D. — Teachers' Tenure — Twentieth Biennial Report of the 

State Superintendent of Public Instruction of Kansas. 
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202-205. 
Hanifan — West Virginia School Journal, May, 1918. 



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